Every year, your favorite Thanksgiving parade touts impressive inflatables, floats and more! We've got the first scoop on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade's four new balloons—and it's totally awesome. See sketches of the newest inflatables joining the likes of Snoopy and Woodstock, Thomas the Tank Engine, the Elf on the Shelf below!
Red (above)
In anticipation of The Angry Birds Movie (opening May 20), helium giant Red will take flight for the first time. Tell your gaming fanatics to watch for him—he’s posed in a midstride dash, clutching the egg like a football during a Thanksgiving Day game, and stands at 45 and a half feet tall. Fun fact: He also has seven-foot-wide eyebrows.
Photograph: Macy's
Scrat and his acorn
This two-balloon set features Ice Age’s saber-toothed squirrel Scrat running after his prized acorn. It celebrates the much-anticipated fifth installment of the Ice Age series, set for release on July 22. The best part? We found out that Scrat’s helium acorn could fit more than 15 million standard-size acorns inside of it.
Photograph: Macy's
Sinclair Dino
This great green dinosaur mascot makes a dino-mite return at 77 feet long after first appearing in the Macy’s parade (when he was seven feet shorter) in 1963. An iteration of the Brontosaurus also drew more than 50 million visitors during the 1964–65 New York World’s Fair.
Photograph: Macy's
Ronald McDonald
The familiar clown made his debut in the Macy’s parade in 1987 holding a handful of balloons and has appeared twice more since then. His newest reboot ditches the usual striped sleeves and socks for a more formal outfit that includes a dapper red tie and jacket. He’ll stand at 67 feet tall, plus his shoes are six feet long!
To start your Turkey Day break off right, get in on the balloon action early and drop by the Museum of Natural History to see them get inflated. The parade itself starts its two-mile route at 77th Street and Central Park West, curves onto Central Park South, rolls down Sixth Avenue and ends at 34th Street and Seventh Avenue at Macy’s Herald Square on Thanksgiving Day. Too cozy at home in your jammies to venture out? Turn on NBC starting at 9am!