“For three enchanting hours, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade weaves its spell. The police on the street, the Macy’s employees, the NBC crew, the thousands of cheerleaders, band members, Broadway musical cast, the celebrities who wave from the floats, and the balloons – all given out with a little something extra special on this extra special day. There is a spirit in the air that comes from within all of us who have ever had the privilege of being part of this parade.”
That’s what Willard Scott, who spent a decade hosting Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, wrote in the forward of Life magazine’s book, America’s Parade: A Celebration of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
A big part of the magic of the parade, as mentioned by Mr. Scott, is the giant helium balloons floating through the cavernous streets of New York City, and for animation fans, an added dose of that magic has been seeing a number of our cartoon friends immortalized forever in this helium-filled wonder.
What follows is a very brief look back at just some of them (all of them would be an article that could last longer than most Thanksgiving dinners, including time taken for second helpings and leftovers on Black Friday).
Thank you to Cartoon Research reader DBenson for suggesting this article. What follows are the many famous, infamous, and forgotten animated characters who have appeared as balloons in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
1920s
The parade started in 1924, but balloons first appeared in 1927, and the first cartoon character balloon was none other than Felix the Cat. He was filled with air, not helium, and had to be held up by stilts. To commemorate the 90th anniversary of the parade, a replica of the Felix balloon was brought back.
1930s
In 1934, Mickey Mouse debuted his balloon in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It would be the first of many balloon appearances by Walt Disney’s most famous star.
The late, great Jim Korkis detailed Mickey’s relationship with Macy’s parade in his 2010 book, The Vault of Walt. In his chapter, “Disney Goes to Macy’s,” Jim wrote how designer Tony Sarg, behind Macy’s window displays, partnered with Disney to create the first Mickey Mouse balloon.
Jim also details how Mickey wasn’t the only Disney star in Macy’s 1934 parade: “The advertisement for the 1934 parade proclaimed ‘See gigantic balloons designed by none other than Walt Disney, creator of Mickey Mouse himself. Mammoth Mickey Mouse a colossus 40 feet high!!!! Pluto the pup!! The happy howling canine. Horace horse collar filled with fun and helium. 12 1/2 feet high, the Big Bad Wolf!!! Held down by 30 marchers!!!! See the Big Bad Wolf 34 feet high. See the pig 31 feet high!!!’”
Jim also notes that there was a balloon that was a “very bad version of the Fifer Pig” from Disney’s 1934 short, Three Little Pigs, as well as the Big Bad Wolf balloon with a white star on his chest.
The following year, in 1935, another of Disney’s major stars, Donald Duck, who would eventually eclipse Mickey in popularity, made his balloon debut in the parade.
Three years later, in 1938, the star of Walt Disney’s Ferdinand the Bull was brought to helium life for Macy’s parade.
1940s
Look, up in the sky… above the Manhattan streets was Superman, making his debut as a balloon in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1940. A comic book icon, but just one year later, Superman would be brought to animated life in shorts produced by the Fleischer studio.
1950s
In 1951, another high-flying animated character, Mighty Mouse, joined the line-up of Macy’s balloons.
According to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Wiki site, Paul Terry’s popular character was a five-year mainstay. However, in the 1954 parade, his mid-section sagged due to a lack of helium, and in the ‘56 parade, his right arm and ear deflated. Despite this, Mighty Mouse was there on Thanksgiving to “save the day!”
Another star of popular cartoon shorts from another studio, Popeye, made his debut as a balloon in 1957, cutting a striking appearance in his blue and red sailor’s uniform and trademark bulging arms flying high above Manhattan.
1960s
Jay Ward’s cartoon star, Bullwinkle, first appeared as a parade balloon in 1961. Despite chilly, Northeast November weather, Bullwinkle sported a turn-of-the-last-century bathing suit. The famous moose would become a regular in the parade through 1983.
Bullwinkle was also one of several animated television stars who made balloon appearances in the 1960’s. Others included Linus the Lionhearted (1964) and Underdog (1965), who cut an iconic image with a design that made him appear to soar between the buildings of New York City. Artist Joe Harris, one of the creators of the character for Total Television, partnered with Macy’s to design the balloon.
Stars of comics and comic strips, who would be translated into animation in the 60s, made appearances as balloons during this decade: there was a new version of Superman in 1966, and the first two Snoopy balloons – Snoopy the Aviator in 68 and Snoopy the Astronaut in 69.
1970s
A newly designed Mickey Mouse, with a sporty yellow polo shirt and his trademark red shorts, was to make his debut in 1971, but strong winds resulted in operators grounding the balloons, so Mickey didn’t fly in the parade until the following year.
1980s
The 80s were big in every way, including the number of cartoon character balloons in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Some helium stars included a new version of Superman (1980) and Olive Oyl and Woody Woodpecker in 1982.
Yogi Bear made his balloon debut in 1983, accompanied by a float featuring the Hanna-Barbera characters, taking part in a big dance number, and a specially produced animated segment featuring Yogi and Boo-Boo to introduce the balloon, and Santa Claus’ arrival, which was right after Yogi.
A number of iconic characters who would be translated into animation would also be featured as balloons in the 80s, including Garfield and Raggedy Ann (both 1984), as well as Spider-Man (1987). There were also two new versions of Snoopy, as a skater in 1987 and with Woodstock in 1988.
Swea’Pea joined Olive Oyl in a new balloon in 1986, and other animation legends premiered as balloons during the decade. In 1985, Betty Boop made her first appearance in style, decked out in a red hat and tails, nestled in a smiling crescent moon. Pink Panther soared above the city streets in 1988, wearing a bathing suit and wrapped in an inner tube that read: “Macy’s Life Guard.”
The last year of the decade, 1989, saw Bugs Bunny’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade balloon, where Warner’s “waskully wabbit,” sporting a snazzy tuxedo and chomping on a carrot, sat atop a gold star with a “50” on it, as 1990 would be the character’s 50th anniversary.
1990s
Animation experienced a Renaissance in the 1990s, and this popularity was reflected in the cartoon character balloons during the decade.
One of the significant animation icons and pop culture from the decade, Bart Simpson, debuted as a balloon in the 1990 parade. He was depicted as he is at the start of each Simpsons episode, riding a skateboard.
Another animated icon, Disney’s Goofy, took his bow as a balloon in 1992, dressed as Santa and tangled in a wreath and Christmas lights. The following year, Amblimation released their animated feature, We’re Back, over Thanksgiving weekend, and as part of the promotion for the film, (which included a scene taking place during Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade) the main character, a T-rex named Rex, was a balloon in the 1993 Parade. Unfortunately, poor Rex had a rough time during his debut, as the head of the balloon was cut on a light pole and became partially deflated for the remainder of the parade.
In 1997, there was another unfortunate incident with a character balloon, The Cat in the Hat (who debuted in 1994); where according to a New York Times article at the time, there was “…an accident in which a six-story-high Cat in the Hat balloon knocked down part of a lamppost, injuring four spectators.”
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Wiki notes that the incident caused Macy’s to make changes to the balloons’ sizes and implement wind restrictions.
Under these new guidelines, Bullwinkle returned in 1996 in a new balloon featuring him and his best pal, Rocky the Flying Squirrel. “Moose and Squirrel” were both animation and parade veterans in the ’90s, but Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade also featured several newer cartoon stars whose TV shows were quite the hits of the era. These included Arthur and Rugrats in 1997 and Dexter of Dexter’s Laboratory in 1998.
The decade and century closed out in 1999 with another new Snoopy Balloon, Millennium Snoopy, which featured him ready to begin celebrating the 2000s.
2000s
As animated films and TV shows continued to soar in popularity, there was literally a parade of cartoon character balloons over the next decade. These included new TV stars, such as Jimmy Neutron (in 2001), SpongeBob SquarePants (2004), and Dora the Explorer (2005).
Additionally, stars of the big screen made balloon appearances, including Shrek (2007), Chicken Little (2004), Buzz Lightyear, and Horton from Horton Hears a Who! (both 2008),
In 2001, Pikachu of the wildly popular Pokemon franchise was transformed into a balloon, and one of TV’s most famous animated icons, Scooby-Doo, soared as a balloon in 2005.
A number of familiar comic characters also made appearances as newly designed balloons throughout the decade, including Charlie Brown, Spider-Man, Garfield, and Snoopy, who made his sixth appearance as the World War I flying ace.
Mickey Mouse, made two new appearances, as Bandleader Mickey, in 2000 and Sailor Mickey, in 2009.
2010s
The next decade also saw an impressive line-up of animated stars in balloon form, including two of DreamWorks’ biggest stars, Po from Kung Fu Panda (2010) and Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon (2013).
Other animated movie star balloon appearances included Scrat the Squirrel from the Ice Age movies (2015) and The Grinch, in 2017, from Illumination’s 2018 film adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s beloved book.
There were also new versions of Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and SpongeBob SquarePants, and one of the biggest animated films of all time, Frozen, inspired an Olaf the Snowman balloon in 2017.
2020 – Today
The cartoon character balloons in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade encompass almost all of animation history, featuring balloons from Felix the Cat to Stuart the Minion and from Swea’ Pea to Boss Baby.
This year’s line-up is scheduled to include several new animated additions, including Leo the Lizard from Netflix’s latest animated feature, Monkey D. Luffy from the popular anime One Piece, Leo and the duck, Uncle Dan from Illumination’s new film, Migration.
Some of the new balloons for 2023 – this graphic via “MrYoshi1996” on Deviant Art
They all join a treasured tradition. What started in 1927 continues to enchant those lining New York’s streets and those watching at home, waiting for their favorite cartoon star to make a helium-filled appearance.
So, as the announcers say at step off each year in New York City: “Let’s have a Parade!”
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!