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HomeExploreComicsComic Character Balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
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A Peanuts beagle in a flight helmet, Superman above the avenue, and Popeye with a pipe all made it off the page and into the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. These photos show how the parade turned comic-strip and comic-book characters into balloons, including the designs that brought familiar faces back in new costumes and poses.

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Images26

1
Flying Ace Snoopy, 1968
Flying Ace Snoopy, 1968: Snoopy made his Macy's balloon debut in 1968 dressed as the World War I Flying Ace from Charles M…
2
Garfield, 1984
Garfield, 1984: Jim Davis's Garfield arrived at the parade in 1984. The original orange balloon took the newspaper strip's…
3
Spider-Man, 1987
Spider-Man, 1987: The first Spider-Man balloon debuted in 1987. Macy's archive photo shows the design in 1991, with its…
4
Popeye the Sailor, 1957
Popeye the Sailor, 1957: E. C. Segar introduced Popeye in the newspaper strip Thimble Theatre in 1929. The sailor's balloon…
5
Superman, 1940
Superman, 1940: The first Superman balloon flew in 1940, two years after Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's hero appeared in…
6
Superman, 1966
Superman, 1966: Macy's brought Superman back in 1966 with a new design. In this color photograph, his hands rest on his…
7
Olive Oyl, 1982
Olive Oyl, 1982: Olive Oyl appeared in E. C. Segar's Thimble Theatre a decade before Popeye. Her upright balloon made its…
8
Astronaut Snoopy, 1969
Astronaut Snoopy, 1969: The first Astronaut Snoopy balloon debuted in 1969 and flew through 1977. Schulz's Peanuts beagle…
9
Superman, 1980
Superman, 1980: The third Superman balloon debuted in 1980. It stretched 104 feet from end to end, and the design finally…
10
Spider-Man, 2009
Spider-Man, 2009: The 2009 Spider-Man balloon took a low, sideways pose with one hand ready to shoot a web. In this 2013…
11
Charlie Brown with a Football, 2002
Charlie Brown with a Football, 2002: Charlie Brown's first giant Macy's balloon flew in 2002. A football floats just beyond…
12
Charlie Brown with a Kite, 2016
Charlie Brown with a Kite, 2016: The second Charlie Brown balloon debuted in 2016 with a kite, another source of trouble in…
13
Smurf, 2008
Smurf, 2008: The first giant Smurf balloon debuted in 2008 for the 50th anniversary of Peyo's blue characters, who first…
14
Super Saiyan Blue Goku, 2018
Super Saiyan Blue Goku, 2018: The first Goku balloon took flight in 2018, with blue hair and its body angled forward. The…
15
Ice Skater Snoopy, 1987
Ice Skater Snoopy, 1987: Snoopy glides over Central Park West in the solo skating design, complete with a striped winter…
16
Papa Smurf, 2012
Papa Smurf, 2012: Papa Smurf took to the parade route in 2012. The beard and red hat distinguish the village leader from…
17
Snoopy and Woodstock, 2013
Snoopy and Woodstock, 2013: Snoopy's seventh Macy's design debuted in 2013, with Woodstock perched on his head. The pose…
18
Astronaut Snoopy, 2019
Astronaut Snoopy, 2019: The 2019 balloon returned Snoopy to the astronaut role with a new design. Macy's and Peanuts…
19
Garfield, 2003
Garfield, 2003: A redesigned Garfield balloon debuted in 2003, giving Jim Davis's newspaper cat a second turn above…
20
Beagle Scout Snoopy, 2023
Beagle Scout Snoopy, 2023: Snoopy put on a campaign hat and packed his gear for the 2023 parade. The balloon includes…
21
Monkey D. Luffy, 2023
Monkey D. Luffy, 2023: The pirate from Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga first joined the parade in 2023. A tree branch…

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