Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Will Be Very Smurfy
Posted on October 22, 2008
Tomorrow marks the 50th Smurfday of the Smurfs, the little blue character that first appeared in the comic books by Belgian cartoonist Peyo (aka Pierre Culliford) on October 23, 1958. This year Smurfday will be celebrated with the Smurfs' first appearance in the 82nd annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. A giant Smurf helium balloon will float above Manhattan. The mega-Smurf will measure approximately 57.6 feet long, 38.7 feet wide and 47 feet tall, when he is filled with 15,050 cubic feet of helium on Parade day.
Along for the ride down Broadway and taking a leave from the Smurf village, Papa Smurf and Smurfette will follow the Smurf balloon on a float featuring a replica of one of the Smurfs legendary mushroom shaped homes. The Smurf mushroom home will also be an inflatable balloon.
"Without a doubt, the sky will be blue this Thanksgiving," said Amy Kule, producer of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. "We are thrilled to help The Smurfs celebrate their 50th Anniversary with a new giant balloon that will be one of the highlights of this year's Parade. Following closely behind this flying wonder will be the ubiquitous mushroom village float holding the classic characters everybody remembers so well: Papa Smurf and Smurfette."
Maybe the Smurf balloons in Macy's parade will rekindle an interest in all things Smurf. The Smurfs website says Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation are working on bringing a live-action/animated Smurfs project to the bigscreen.
Update: You can see many images of the fun Smurf balloons on Bluebuddies.com.