The Sonic the Hedgehog Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon has a chaotic, yet thrilling history: He was the first-ever video game character to be represented as a Macy's Parade balloon, but he's also the most removed balloon in the parade's history. And now, he's back.
He first appeared in the Thanksgiving parade in 1993, as a 64-feet-tall balloon filled with helium and hope, but strong winds turned his debut into a disaster. In a twist that seemed orchestrated by Eggman himself, Sonic was stabbed in the eye by a lamp post, and the falling debris injured an off-duty police officer and a ten-year-old girl (who were both fine, don't worry).
But they fixed up the Blue Blur, and he made a reappearance in 1994 and 1995 — but the same thing happened in '95, and Sonic was impaled on a tree. Somehow, SEGA didn't learn from either of these disasters, and Sonic reappeared once more in 1996 and 1997, and then retired, largely due to all the holes in his face.
It wasn't until 2011 that Sonic would return triumphant, with a new, sleeker design and presumably a well-reinforced head. He only made three appearances, each one for the annual parades in 2011, 2012, and 2013, and then went to join his Swiss cheese brother in that Green Hill Zone in the sky.
But it's 2021, and that second Sonic is finally going to return to us once more in celebration of his 30th birthday, as seems to have been revealed by an intern working on the balloon posting on Instagram.
At 50 feet tall and 65 feet wide, he's quite the large guy, and what's more, he's currently the only video game character balloon scheduled to appear in 2021's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (unless you count SpongeBob).
The other giant balloons on display will be The Boss Baby, SpongeBob Squarepants and Gary, Sinclair Oil's dinosaur, Baby Yoda, Astronaut Snoopy, Ada Twist from Netflix's new kids show, Ada Twist, Scientist, and Red Titan from Ryan's World, the popular toy review YouTube channel with 30.6 million subscribers.
The parade, which has been going on since 1924, will take place in New York City on the 25th of November, from 9am ET to 12pm ET. Since Sonic's arrival, we've seen a couple of other video game characters, including Pikachu and Red from Angry Birds, but notably Mario has never made an appearance. 1-0 to SEGA fans, then.
Will you be attending the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, or are you too terrified of Sonic's revenge? Let us know in the comments.
Comments 33
Sonic Unleashed
They tried to lock him up, but he finally got out of that GUN plane tho, to cause some more property damage once again
Another sacrifice is in order to please him
And after 30 years of collecting the will from the fans, Sonic, returns!
The best anime!
Probably won't attend, but will probably watch it via the NBC app. Does make me happy seeing characters I like in the parade and Sonic is no exception. Loved the Trolls one last year, now looking forward to Sonic this year.
You can see the sadistic blood lust in his cold, dead eyes. They will regret this.
Cool to see Sonic back in, now that he's an unlikely movie star. I remember back in the day when Woody Woodpecker was a problem balloon in the parade.
The form of the Destructor has been chosen...
The most powerful villian has been resurrected.....
Misleading title, and you can tell all the comments are confused. Sonic has not been absent since the first disaster. He continued to appear most of the 90s and then again for his 20th anniversary. But I guess that just shows people comment in reaction to just the article title.
Obviously he turned into a villian (or an antihero). What kind of hero would injure innocent people?
@Obito_Sigma How does looking forward to seeing the Sonic balloon make me confused? I just expressed I'm happy to see the balloon coming back. I do remember the 20th anniversary appearance though.
When approached for comment, Sonic T. Hedgehog was quoted as saying: "You're too slow!"
Aww I miss the parade as I haven’t watched it in years. I went in ‘94 with my mom and uncle. We were even on TV. Need to see if my parents still have the tape. Great memory.
It's like the blood moon is rising again
Just here to say that subtitle hit me in all the right ways lol. Props
Oh boy, he returns and here it comes. I wonder how much if any havoc he'll cause at this parade this time.
*me sitting over here curiously wondering how much blood it will take to sate Sonic for another 30 years…..
Might need to call Sam and Dean to seal the beast away…..
No, Sonic, don't take your anger out on me, nooooo!
*dramatization, may not have happened
Too bad TurboMan wasn't there to save those people.
At least this Sonic can't induce seizures.
@westman98 jokes on you when it explodes it will drop flashbangs
Can't help but notice that original Sonic has two mouths.
The sad thing is I kindve remember seeing the news that Turkey Day in 93, when Sonic went berserk.
Back then I don’t think Black Friday was a thing yet, or if it was, it was on Friday! The family could just enjoy the Thanksgiving meal and spend the rest of the day looking for blimp disasters or something decent on TV.
Hoping for smooth sailing for Sonic this year!
Hilarious article! Well, other than people (and Sonic) getting injured that is,
So isn't this parade just an advert for a shop? Funny how it's presented as some prestigious event but it's basically the equivalent of people in Gregg's t-shirts walking down the road holding sausage roll shaped balloons.
@Matroska as if you wouldn't attend a Greggs themed parade. I know I would.
I like how the title of the article makes Sonic sound like some kind of celebrity returning to the public eye after getting sober.
They thought he would be locked forever and now they released him. He's out for a kill again, great job.
Also I don't think SEGA had to do with these accidents, because...do they make balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade?
Man, I wish we had something like this in Edinburgh (Scotland).
Stop calling him Baby Yoda! His name is Grogu! If necessary, call him Grogu from the "Star Wars" franchise.
@BulbasaurusRex NO
@KateGray happy birthday.
I was there. Never saw sonic that year.
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