The Thomas & Friends Thomas balloon, which debuted in 2014.
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade organised by the Macy's department store which is held every Thanksgiving Day in New York City in the United States. The three hour parade is composed of large helium balloons of well-known characters alongside floats and live performances, ending with a float of Santa Claus upon his sleigh, marking the start of the Christmas season.
In celebration of both the upcoming 70th anniversary of The Railway Series and opening of Thomas Land, Mattel collaborated with Macy's to introduce a balloon of the Thomas & Friends Thomas in the 88th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day in 2014. A promotional video was released to promote the first public appearance of the balloon. Thomas would reappear in the 2015 and 2016 parades, with the latter appearance serving to promote the release of The Great Race. Following these appearances, Thomas would be retired from the parade's lineup and be placed in storage at Macy's Parade Warehouse.
Construction[]
Construction of the Thomas balloon took approximately eight-and-a-half months to create and was headed by Sioux Falls-based Raven Aerostar. Measuring 47-feet tall, 51-feet long and 23-feet wide, Thomas is one of the largest balloons designed for the Parade, with more than 20,000 cubic feet of helium needed to inflate it. Additionally, the balloon weighed 450 pounds, becoming the heaviest balloon in the lineup at the time of its debut. For the balloon to maintain the square shape of an engine, more than 16,000 internal tie-in were added inside. Thomas' undercarriage was also recreated at the bottom via a specialized paint job.
Trivia[]
- Thomas is considered by Macy's Parade Studio to be one of the most challenging designs made for a balloon.
- The balloon was handled by 50 handling lines and a team of approximately 90 handlers donning driver outfits.