Mr. Monopoly

Milburn Pennybags, more commonly known as "Rich Uncle" Pennybags, is the mascot of the board game of Monopoly. He is depicted as a portly old man with a moustache who wears a morning suit with a bowtie and top hat. In large parts of the world he is known, additionally or exclusively, as the Monopoly Man, or Mr. Monopoly.[1] He also appears in the related games Advance to Boardwalk, Free Parking, Don't Go to Jail, Monopoly City, Monopoly Junior, and Monopoly Deal.

Rich Uncle Pennybags, as depicted on the cover of the first edition of the Parker Brothers game that gave the character a name

The character first appeared on Chance and Community Chest cards in U.S. editions of Monopoly in 1936. The identity of the character's designer, artist Daniel Fox, was unknown until 2013, when a former Parker Brothers executive, Philip Orbanes, was contacted by one of Fox's grandchildren.[2]

History

The unnamed character made his first appearance outside Monopoly in the Parker Brothers' game Dig, released in 1940.[3] He did not receive a name until 1946, when Parker Brothers produced the game Rich Uncle, where his likeness appeared on the box lid, instructions, and currency. According to Orbanes, Rich Uncle Pennybags of the American version of Monopoly is modeled after American Progressive Era businessman J. P. Morgan.[4]

A more contemporary depiction of Pennybags on the box of Monopoly

Between 1985 and 2008, the character appeared in the second "O" in the word Monopoly as part of the game's logo. More recently, he is depicted over the word "Monopoly", drawn in a 3-D style, extending his right hand. However, he no longer appears uniformly on every Monopoly game box.[5][6]

In 1988, Orbanes published the first edition of his book The Monopoly Companion. In the book, all of the characters that appear on the Monopoly board or within the decks of cards received a name. Uncle Pennybags' full name was given as Milburn Pennybags, the character "In Jail" is named "Jake, the Jailbird", and the police officer on Go to Jail is named "Officer Mallory".[7]

In 1999, Rich Uncle Pennybags was renamed Mr. Monopoly. That year, a Monopoly Jr. CD-ROM game was released in cereal boxes as part of a General Mills promotion. It introduced Mr. Monopoly's niece and nephew, Sandy and Andy.

According to the book, Monopoly: The World's Most Famous Game & How It Got That Way and The Monopoly Companion, Mr. Monopoly has a second nephew named Randy, although the Monopoly Companion mistakenly refers to Sandy as a boy. Monopoly: The World's Most Famous Game & How It Got That Way also states that Mr. Monopoly has a wife named Madge.[7][8] He is named as the sixth richest fictional character in the 2006 Forbes Fictional 15 list on its website and the ninth richest in 2011.[9]

Legacy

In 2017, a staff member[10] of the activist group Public Citizen who dressed as Mr. Monopoly with an added monocle gained Internet and media attention[11] by photobombing the CEO of Equifax during a US Senate hearing relating to that credit bureau's data security breach from earlier that same year.[12] It was an attempt to bring attention to the use of "forced arbitration" to circumvent consumers' rights to sue financial companies in court.[13]

While Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified before Congress on December 11, 2018, a person costumed in a white mustache and black bowler hat as the Monopoly Man was among those seated behind him.[1]

On September 12, 2023 Ian Madrigal again dressed as the Monopoly Man following Kent Walker, the President of Global Affairs at Alphabet Inc. to Google´s antitrust trial United States v. Google LLC (2023) at federal court in Washington, D.C .[14]

Clue: Candlestick, a mystery comic book by Dash Shaw based on the board game Clue, features Rich Uncle Pennybags in a cameo. He is referred to as "Milburn."[15]

Vault Boy, the mascot of the Fallout video game series, is based partly on Rich Uncle Pennybags.[16]

A false memory of Mr. Monopoly as wearing a monocle, which he didn't do until after this false memory gained traction is a common instance of the Mandela effect.

Voices

In licensed media, primarily including advertisements and video games, Mr. Monopoly has been voiced by several voice actors including Tony Waldman, Tony Pope, Wendell Johnson, Dean Hagopian, Mark Dodson, Larry Moran, Michael Cornacchia, Harry Aspinwall, and Rowell Gormon.[17]

References
Specific
  1. Lauren Feiner (December 11, 2018). "A person dressed up like the guy from Monopoly sat behind Google's CEO as he testified before Congress". CNBC. Retrieved December 12, 2018. Ian Madrigal, the person who identified themselves as the Monopoly Man, said the act is a protest of the internet company's alleged inability to self-regulate when it comes to protecting consumer data.
  2. Association of Game and Puzzle Collectors Quarterly www.AGPC.ORG summer 2013 Vol.15 No. 2. Page 18. Meet Daniel Gidahlia Fox -- The Artist Who Created "Mr. Monopoly" by Emily F.Clements
  3. Markstein, Don. "Rich Uncle Pennybags". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  4. Turpin, Zachary. "Interview: Phil Orbanes, Monopoly Expert (Part Two)". Book of Odds. Archived from the original on May 2, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  5. Hasbro Toy Shop page for Monopoly. The mascot character appears only on the Standard Edition set.
  6. USAopoly Archived 2013-05-24 at the Wayback Machine page for Monopoly. The mascot character appears on only about half of the editions shown.
  7. Orbanes, Philip (September 1999). The Monopoly Companion: The Player's Guide : The Game from A to Z, Winning Tips, Trivia. Adams Media Corporation. p. . ISBN 978-1-58062-175-5. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  8. Vanderkam, Laura (March 21, 2007). "Just Visiting". American.com. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  9. "The Forbes Fictional 15 - #6 Mr. Monopoly". Forbes. 2006-11-20. Archived from the original on 2012-09-16. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
  10. Ian Madrigal (known publicly at the time as A. Werner)
  11. Calfas, Jennifer (October 4, 2017). "We Spoke To the 'Monopoly Man' Who Photobombed the Senate Equifax Hearing". Money.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
  12. Chiel, Ethan (2017-10-04). "A Chat with the Viral "Monopoly Man" Who Trolled the Equifax Senate Hearing". GQ. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  13. Romo, Vanessa (2017-10-06). "How Monopoly Man Won the Internet". GQ. Retrieved 2017-10-06.
  14. Harshawn Ratanpal (2023-10-05). "Google ramped up federal lobbying ahead of DOJ antitrust showdown". Open Secrets. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  15. Wilding, Rory (28 January 2020). "CLUE: Candlestick Review". Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  16. "Tim Cain interview on the Duck and Cover".
  17. "Mr. Monopoly Voice". Behind the Voice Actors.
General
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