Look Back: Disney balloons at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Steve Liebman November 25, 2020

1 minute read

This year’s virtual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will have its usual performances, floats and balloons, but no crowds.

No Disney, Marvel or Pixar characters will be part of the celebration, but the Walt Disney Company does have a long tradition of balloons in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

A group of Disney balloons debuted in the 1934 parade with a 40-foot tall Mickey Mouse followed by a smaller Pluto balloon, a 34-foot-tall Big Bad Wolf, a 31-foot-tall Little Pig, and a 12 ½-foot-tall Horace Horsecollar.

In 1992, Kermit, the Frog, Betty Boop, Santa Goofy and Humpty Dumpty balloons were on display on the old New York Street backlot at Hollywood Studios, which at the time was called Disney-MGM Studios at Disney World.

The last new Disney balloon was Olaf when in 2017 he joined others in the skies.

Here’s a look at the balloons: