A Nostalgic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Experience | Parade Balloons Of The Past
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ธ.ค. 2024
- It’s time once again to prepare a massive meal with all the fixings to celebrate Thanksgiving Day! Along with fine food, we can’t forget to tune in for the largest parade in America!
We step back into the RetroDaze Time Machine and observe our favorite balloons of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s.
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RetroDaze is a nostalgia related channel that celebrates EVERYTHING from our childhoods, mostly from the '70s, '80s, and '90s. This includes movies, TV shows, video games, toys and action figures, comics and magazines, music, and much more!
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Oh wow, first to post on this video? Great, because I outright have a TON of balloons that were not mentioned on here that I can consider favorites.
First, there can not be a Macy's parade of the late 80s-mid 90s without Spider-Man! Spidey made his debut in 1987 and the first incarnation lasted until 1997. This balloon is gorgeous! They have Spidey pose as though he's reaching out to grab you! For a few years, and they did this on the Snoopy balloon as well, NBC had a camera hanging from the stomach area of Spider-Man. Anyway, I have always felt that Spider-Man should be in every parade because after all, it takes place in his hometown, New York City. There was a second Spider-Man balloon in the 2000s after a whole decade of absence, and while this balloon was also nice to see, I never cared for the pose they give him. I will always prefer the original Spider-Man balloon from 198-1997.
Second: Garfield. Now, I'm just going to say it right here, I am a HUGE Garfield fan! I used to collect the old comic digests that came out it seemed annually, I adored the early specials, and when the Saturday Morning Series, Garfield and Friends, premiered in 1988, it was like a dream come true! Anyway, the balloon I'm referring to was his first incarnation which premiered in 1984. For most of the years until 1997 (yeah, another balloon that met its demise in 1997), it was featured in every parade. The design of Garfield reflected how he looked in the comics at the time, in which he is seen on all fours rather than walking upright, which he eventually did first in the cartoon and then in the comics. They kept the classic design of the balloon all the way until it was retired, and this was well after his design was changed to have him walking exclusively upright in both the comics and TV shows.
Third: Woody Woodpecker. Woody made his parade debut in 1982 and was one of the longest consistent balloons to appear in the parade year after year. The design of the balloon is just gorgeous, going into great detail on all of Woody's features. You know what was interesting, and equally annoying about the Woody balloon? There was a sound effects box that when pressed, would play Woody's laugh. Okay, hearing it once or twice while it's being featured on television is fine, but I swear there were years where they would deliberately press the button over and over again just to annoy the TV audience (as well as the announcers, which during most of Woody's era, was during Willard Scott's tenure as host).
Fourth: Pink Panther. Much of my love for this Pink Panther balloon is for the same reason I love the Woody Woodpecker balloon (as well as Garfield). They were cartoons that I grew up watching and loving and were big fans of both characters. Anyway, the design of this balloon had Pink wearing a pair of swim trunks and inside an inner tube (okay, he was also wearing a scarf). They said that the inner tube was there to help the balloon keep its balance. Anyway, unfortunately, Pink meant his untimely end in, yep, 1997. There's footage of Pink blowing around from the gusts of winds from that parade and how he met his untimely demise. It's not as dramatic as the demise of the Barney balloon, but still, it was sad to see a beloved character get destroyed, even though it was only a balloon.
Fifth: Okay, I'm going to have to stop here because I know I can name at least another five balloons. Maybe I'll make a Part 2 of this post. Anyway, my fifth choice for favorite balloons would have to be Kermit the Frog. Of course, I was a big Muppets fan during the time the Kermit balloon was in the parade so of course, seeing him in balloon form was a special treat. I think the defining moment for the Kermit balloon had to be when they did a tribute to Jim Henson in 1990, who had passed away that May. Willard Scott, who was hosting the parade that year for the fourth year in a row, worked with Henson when they were both working at the same TV station in Washington D.C. in the 1950s. You can hear Willard tear up as he was talking about his beloved friend. Heck, I'm finding myself tearing up just writing this.
Whew, well, I can't say I expected to write this much, but I knew that when describing my favorite balloons I would have to go into some detail. Perhaps I will do a Part 2 because I know of at least five more balloons I could mention. Are there plans for another video about the Macy's parade since we still have another week before Thanksgiving? Even though the balloons are the most popular part of the parade, it would be nice to know about the other features of the parade such as some of the most memorable floats, bands, musical numbers, and moments which just make you want to go, "WTF?" Once again, great video. I have been looking forward week after week for quite some time for a new video from this channel.
Thank you for this epic comment Brian!
All of these are awesome picks, some were even on our list. Happy Thanksgiving man!
@@BrianRetro More memories! Loved Garfield and Pink Panther.
In my house, we go to church on Thanksgiving morning.
When we got home, the parade went on immediately - thanks to us kids, who would have rather been watching the parade on our couch in the first place.
I love the Tom Turkey float and, of course, Santa Claus. Also a big fan of Al Roker - "let's have a parade!" ❤
It's always interesting to find out if the Parade has been something that folks only started to appreciate in adulthood, or if they were more fond of it during childhood.
Every thanksgiving morning, Mom would put black olives and celery on a gold plated thingy. We still continue this tradtiiton over 60 years.
That’s awesome! Not the celery or olives though. The tradition. 😆
Hey there! I’m the owner of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Wiki and I loved the video. Keep up the great work!!
Awesome! So happy you enjoyed it! We love the parade and were really excited to cover some of our favorite balloons. 🎈
Thanks so much, and a HUGE thank you for keeping that amazing site running. It was my go-to source of history and facts last year as well as this year, while writing the Thanksgiving scripts related to the parade. Absolutely amazing resource.
@ Thank you so much for your kind words!! I absolutely love seeing videos like this that use the Wiki as a source-seeing all the work myself and the other editors put in are truly what motivates us to keep going.
Well done! Thank you for keeping that page going and updated.
@@RetroDaze Philly thanksgiving day parade on wpvi
Loved all the history on the Snoopy float!!
He is a personal favorite of my family
Thanks Jon and RetroDaze Gang!
👊🏻😎🕹️
You are most welcome Ted!
Yes, a Freddy Krueger would’ve been amazing! I cracked up at Tony’s facial expression and lack of excitement 🤣
😆 I know. The poor guy.
I'm nothing if not predictably horror-centric. 😛
@ There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that 😁
The turkey float has always been my favorite. It's a chore to pick a favorite balloon but Snoopy, Garfield, and Underdog are all in the running. Dad always cooked the turkey and would sleep in the living room and start working on it before daylight. It was hard to be patient with the delicious aroma filling the house. Count Chocula was a favorite and was sold year round when I was growing up in the 70's. WOW! You guys have really sent me for a walk down Memory Lane! Great vid! 👍🦃
Great memories Jeff! So glad we were able to guide you on a walk down the familiar memories of Thanksgiving.
In the 80s my Mom would buy the Macy's Christmas Snoopy every year. I don't think I missed a parade throughout my childhood in the 70s. Thanks for the memories!
It is a pleasure to go back and help spark a few fond memories. Do you still have any of the Snoopys?
@RetroDaze Yes! I have the one from 1987.
@@TwistedQuestionMarkdo you have the 1970’s Macy’s parade telecasts?
Awesome! We love all things Peanuts.
I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving! It feels like just yesterday we was watching RetroDaze Halloween videos.
The year really is going by fast.
Some of my favorite Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade floats were Blue's Clues, Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, and Spongebob. I think there may have been a Scooby Doo float too? Those were some of my favorite shows growing up, so it was so cool to see them in the parade.
It's not Thanksgiving without Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and good food with family and friends.
Absolutely Tyneisha! All of those are required for a truly epic Thanksgiving.
Happy thanksgiving !
Happy Thanksgiving Matt!
I always loved the Pikachu balloons. As a Pokemon fan since 1999, it awesome that the series mascot and my favorite Pokemon has appeared in the parade for over 20 years. I also liked the Disney balloons and floats.
@@WilliamSchmidNetwork Pokémon (Pikachu in particular) continues to entertain large groups of us.
Finally seeing this. I wasn't born until 1997, so most of my personal nostalgia in relation to the parade is still relatively recent. But one character who took a surprisingly long time to be portrayed in balloon form was actually Charlie Brown himself. Being that he didn't appear as such until the 76th parade in 2002, two years after Charles Schulz's death.
It is surprising that he didn't show up sooner.
Outstanding Content as usual! I never got into this parade but I do remember the adults at the family gathering would be watching it. When the Bart Simpson float came out was the 1st time me my brother and all my cousins actually were looking forward to seeing a float or watch the parade. Everyone has a different NOSTALGIA. That's what makes it great! Thanks to everyone involved in the making of this video.🤘🏻👍🏻🇺🇲
That’s a great memory Z Man. Thank you for sharing that.
3rd SuperChat 1st 2 were $5 I have the google receipts too SMH. Thanks to everyone involved in making this video! I we take a ride every Saturday for years.🤘🏻👍🏻🇺🇲
Thanks, Zman! I haven't been to the parade since I was a kid, but I remember the live experience fondly.
Thank you so much Z Man! We really appreciate you. So glad you enjoyed this episode.
The double balloon of Pikachu and a pokeball comes to mind.
Was this an earlier balloon or a recent on?
SpongeBob will always reign supreme for me. And he’s been showing up for about 20 years now, which shows how impactful he is.
@@jackreiter7291 Indeed! He’s definitely a popular character balloon.
For me, it's always the pikachu/pokemon balloons, as well as the classic ones of peanuts, tom turkey, and many other balloons over the past 25+ years.
Anything Peanuts is a hit with us!
@@RetroDaze Absolutely. =)
The death of Barney the dinosaur (1997 parade) was an unforgettable moment for me
Oh man! Traumatizing for sure. 😆
I was a little too old for Barney, But I do understand what you meant. Whatever your Nostalgia memories are depends on your age. It makes us all Bring back the wonderful memories of being a worry free child. THE GOODD OLD DYS!
@@RetroDaze I was 18 at the time. It was..wow..his death. Poor thing!
If Disney can bring back the Spider-man balloon, they can bring back Bart and Kermit.
That would be awesome if it happened!
From what I've heard on November 28th, it's either going to be light showers or a very sunny days with very little clouds. However, this year is technically the 100th anniversary of the Macy's Christmas/Thanksgiving Day Parade, which is 98th this year as 2026 will be the 100th annual one.
As for my parade float favorite, it would have to be the Pikachu float, the peanuts floats, Santa Claus (christmas lover/fan by the way), the Pillsbury doughboy, Smokey the bear, and my personal favorite, all of the police officers in motor vehicles and horseback riders, activating the sirens and strobe lights/flashes to kickoff the parade at the exact spot in front of the Macy's store.
@@ClassicCartoonPoster1080 It’s crazy to think it’s been going on that long!
@@RetroDaze Oh yeah, it's been around since 1924, and the first thanksgiving/christmas day parade date (November 27th, 1924), that day this year just so happens to fall on a Wednesday, the day before the thanksgiving day parade occurs....However, as one of the commenters on the full version of the 2023 macy's thanksgiving day parade mentioned to me, 1924 and 1925 originally had animals in the parade, until they realized the animals wouldn't be able to be contained during the parade, so in the 1926 parade, they substituted animals in the central park zoo, for parade balloons/floats starting in 1926. Hence why the 100th annual parade will occur in 2026, which it will happen on November 26th, 2026 as thanksgiving day that year.
@@RetroDazeyou may not have known this yet…. But fraggle rock had a float in the Macy’s parade with the actual characters on the float from 1983-1984
Great info! Thank you for that.
We love Fraggle Rock! Need to get some images of that float.
mine was the pikiku ballon to promo pokemon coming to the us that is first i heard about it now here i am 30 years later still collecting
It was the intro to a whole new world of card collecting and gaming.
As any fan of Schoolhouse Rock would know, Napoleon Solo missed a line on the Constitution preamble...
😆 Exactly
A schoolhouse rock float would’ve been great for the Macy’s parade in 1974.
Imagine a Macy’s parade float of schoolhouse rock, with costumed versions of the characters from schoolhouse rock
Disappointed we never got this!
🍂🦃🍁
Here’re my favorite Balloon floats at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Ronald McDonald
Pillsbury Doughboy
Kool-Aid Man
Kermit The Frog
Garfield
Barney
Bear (Bear In The Big Blue House)
Buzz Lightyear
Little Bill
Snoopy
Bluey
Shrek
Spider-Man
Sonic The Hedgehog
Dora The Explorer
Blue (Blue’s Clues)
SpongeBob SquarePants
Hello Kitty
The Smurfs
Sailor Mickey Mouse
Minion
Izzy (Olympic Mascot)
Pikachu
Goku
Sesame Street characters
Scooby-Doo
Energizer Bunny
JoJo (JoJo’s Circus)
Po (Kung Fu Panda)
Thomas The Tank Engine
Power Rangers
Woody Woodpecker
Tommy, Chuckie, & Spike (Rugrats)
Dexter (Dexter’s Laboratory)
Arthur the Aardvark
The Pink Panther
And many more
That’s an incredible list! Some truly awesome balloons on this list. Well done!
Why not Batman?
I have a lot of favorite giant balloons and novelty balloons too.
My favorite giant balloons:
Snoopy (all designs)
bullwinkle
Great pick! Love the Bullwinkle balloon.
power rangers
Great pick!
Great pick!
for me the parade was too boring to watch, i wanted to play something. My parents watched it but i never did.