9 Macy’s Parade Balloons That Made Thanksgiving Magical

Felix the Cat. Mickey Mouse. Superman. Snoopy. Spider-Man. Pikachu. Line up the balloons that have floated down the streets of Manhattan on Thanksgiving morning, and you get something close to a timeline of American pop culture. Each era sent its biggest stars, and each generation of kids got to look up at their favorite characters several stories tall.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has been running since 1924, and its 100th edition arrives in 2026. Here is the history of the parade from a nerd’s point of view, from zoo animals and runaway balloons to a holiday movie classic, plus the balloons that earned a permanent place in parade history.

It Started With Zoo Animals

The first parade, held on Thanksgiving Day in 1924, was put on by Macy’s employees, and it did not have a single balloon. Instead, it featured animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo, including bears, elephants, monkeys, and camels. The route ran about six miles, and it ended in front of the Macy’s store, where the holiday window displays were unveiled for the crowd. It was called the Macy’s Christmas Parade, and it went over well enough that Macy’s ran newspaper ads the next day promising to do it again.

Santa was part of it from the start. He has closed the parade every year, with one exception. In 1932, he led the march instead.

Tony Sarg and the Birth of the Balloons

The balloons came from a puppeteer. Tony Sarg was born in Germany to a family of artists, became known for elaborate puppet shows, and moved to New York after World War I, where he worked on cartoons, children’s books, toys, and window displays. He designed Macy’s holiday windows and served as the parade’s artistic director.

In 1927, the year the event was renamed the Thanksgiving Day Parade, Sarg introduced giant inflatable characters. Felix the Cat, the biggest cartoon star of the 1920s, was one of the first, along with a dragon and a toy soldier. Those early balloons were filled with air and held up by poles, and they were made of rubberized silk by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio.

Then things got wild. In 1928, the balloons were filled with helium, and at the end of the parade, Macy’s let them go. They drifted over the city for days, and Macy’s offered a $100 reward to anyone who returned one. One balloon landed in a Long Island neighborhood. Another was found floating in the East River. The original Felix met a fiery end after drifting into a high voltage wire.

The release tradition ended in 1932, when a 60 foot Tom Cat balloon struck a small plane flown by a 22 year old pilot and her instructor. The plane dropped about 5,000 feet before the instructor regained control. Macy’s never released its character balloons again.

Mickey Arrives and the Parade Goes Hollywood

The parade’s most famous partnership began in 1934, when Mickey Mouse made his debut. The balloon was designed by Walt Disney and Tony Sarg, stood 40 feet tall, and took what The New York Times described as “25 husky attendants” to control. Pluto, the Big Bad Wolf, and other Disney characters came along that year too, and Donald Duck followed in 1935.

Superheroes were not far behind. Superman got his first balloon in 1940, a year before the famous Fleischer Studios cartoons. And when the elevated train tracks on the West Side came down in 1941, the balloons could finally grow taller. By 1951, Mickey stood 70 feet tall with a 42 foot arm span.

The War Years and a Movie Miracle

World War II stopped the parade. In 1942, Macy’s canceled it because the country needed rubber and helium. On November 13, 1942, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia joined a ceremony where Macy’s donated its balloons to the war effort, about 650 pounds of rubber in all. The parade sat out three years and returned in November 1945, when about two million people lined the route.

The next year, the parade became a movie star. Miracle on 34th Street filmed its opening during the real 1946 parade. The crew could not stop the event, so director George Seaton had the cast sneak in their shots during the live festivities, and he arranged for Edmund Gwenn, who played Kris Kringle, to ride the actual Santa float. The film was released in June 1947, because studio head Darryl F. Zanuck believed more people went to the movies in summer, and it became one of the most beloved holiday films ever made. It even made our list of the best Thanksgiving movies to watch every year, since it opens with the parade before turning into a Christmas story.

Television took the parade national. It was broadcast on radio starting in 1932, and by the late 1940s, it was on TV. NBC has carried it for generations since, which is how millions of families made it part of their Thanksgiving morning without ever setting foot in New York.

When the Balloons Fought Back

A parade full of giant helium characters on windy city streets is bound to have bad days, and the Macy’s parade has had some memorable ones.

When Popeye debuted in 1957, it rained, and his hat filled with water until it tipped over and poured onto the spectators below. In 1958, a national helium shortage meant several balloons had to be filled with air and held up by cranes. In 1971, heavy rain and wind kept every balloon grounded for the first time. In 1993, a dinosaur balloon based on the movie We’re Back had its head cut open by a light pole.

The worst came in 1997. Winds gusted to about 40 miles an hour, and a Cat in the Hat balloon knocked a lamppost into the crowd, severely injuring a woman, who spent 24 days in a coma. Afterward, the rules changed. Balloons now stay grounded when winds get too strong, and size restrictions followed. In 2005, an M&M balloon hit a light pole and injured two people, and in 2019, high winds forced the balloons to fly just a few feet above the ground.

Today, each balloon is flown by a team that can include up to 90 handlers and two co pilots, and handlers have to weigh at least 125 pounds. A single balloon can cost close to $200,000 to design, build, and fly.

The Best Balloons in Parade History

Hundreds of balloons have flown over the years. These are the ones that best tell the parade’s story.

Felix the Cat

Felix was there at the beginning, one of the first giant balloons in 1927, when he was the biggest cartoon star in the country. He was air filled and held up on poles, and his short life ended in flames on a power line. Every balloon that followed started with him.

Mickey Mouse

No character has a longer relationship with the parade. Since his debut in 1934, Mickey has come back again and again in new looks, including a Bandleader Mickey in 2000 and Sailor Mickey in 2009. For the 100th parade in 2026, he returns as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice from Fantasia, which marks his 21st appearance.

Superman

Superman was one of the parade’s earliest superheroes, first flying in 1940. His 1980 balloon, at 80 feet tall, still ranks as the second tallest balloon in the parade’s history.

Snoopy

If the parade has a mascot, it might be Snoopy. He first flew in 1968 as the World War I Flying Ace, then came back as an astronaut in 1969, a skater in 1987, and a Millennium Snoopy in 1999. He is the longest running character in the parade and has appeared more often than any other balloon.

Olive Oyl and Swee’Pea

Popeye’s family holds the size record. The Olive Oyl balloon holding baby Swee’Pea, which first flew in 1986, stood about 102 feet tall, making it the tallest balloon in the history of the parade.

Bullwinkle

Bullwinkle debuted in 1961 wearing an old fashioned bathing suit and stayed a regular through 1983. He came back with Rocky in 1996, and for the 100th parade, he appears on a float called Macy’s Parade All Stars, alongside Sonic, Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Swee’Pea.

Underdog

Underdog joined the lineup in 1965, and one of his co creators, Joe Harris, helped design the balloon. He returns for the 100th parade with a new balloon from Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation.

Spider-Man

Spider-Man swung into the parade in 1987, the same year as a skating Snoopy. Over the decades, he has become one of its most recognizable superheroes, and he is back among the returning favorites in 2026.

Pikachu

Pikachu flew for the first time in 2001, bringing Pokémon fever to Thanksgiving morning. Pikachu later returned sharing a balloon with Eevee, giving the generation that grew up with the games and the anime a familiar face to look up at.

The Balloons That Broke New Ground

Some balloons are important because they expanded who got to be up there. Little Bill became the parade’s first African American balloon in 2002, and Dora the Explorer became its first Latina balloon in 2005. Bart Simpson brought prime time animation to the parade in 1990, and Smokey Bear, who first appeared as a giant balloon in 1966, returned in 2024 for his 80th anniversary.

The 100th Parade

The 100th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade takes place on November 26, 2026, airing on NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo. Its lineup leans into the parade’s history. Along with the new Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey and Underdog, new balloons include Hello Kitty, Joe Cool and Woodstock, and a new Bluey, whose first balloon debuted in 2022. A Blue Hippopotamus balloon returns for the first time since 1931. And a float called Tony Sarg’s Amazing Marionettes honors the puppeteer who started it all.

That is what makes the parade so special for pop culture fans. It is a living museum of the characters we love. Every year, it adds a few new faces, and every so often, it brings back an old one to remind us where it all began.

Which Macy’s balloon is your all time favorite, and which character still needs a balloon of its own? Let us know in the comments.