Beware the skies on Turkey Day.
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will celebrate its 92nd anniversary this year. Originally conceived as a marketing tactic--to coax customers into Macy's at the beginning of the holiday shopping season--the parade has since become an annual tradition.
Marching bands from all over the country turn out to participate. Broadway casts perform in front of Macy's to promote their respective musicals. And the Radio City Rockettes always give a synchronized, high-kicking performance to get the proceedings started.
The parade is best known for its giant balloons of comic and cartoon characters, which require proportionately massive crews of handlers to control. But despite the high production values and massive manpower involved, mishaps occur. Here are the top eight controversies and disasters that have marred the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Image: Ben+Sam on Flickr (license)
8. The NYPD stabs the Barney the Dinosaur balloon (1997)
The biggest enemy of these massive balloons is the wind, which can easily blow them off course. In 1997, multiple balloons popped and deflated after being blown into signs and sharp objects, thanks to the stiff winds.
As you can see in this clip, Barney got a massive gash in his side, which caused him to flap about uncontrollably. The NYPD, concerned that the balloon would become a safety hazard, stabbed it with knives and tore it apart until it stopped moving. You can hear the audible gasps in the crowd once the destruction begins.
7. The Felix The Cat balloon goes up in flames (1927)
In 1927, Felix the Cat debuted in the parade. He was the first giant balloon in the parade's history, but unfortunately, he didn't make it to the end of the route. He got stuck on some telephone wires and caught on fire.
In 2016, a new Felix the Cat, inspired by the original balloon, debuted in the parade and had much better luck.
6. The Sonic the Hedgehog balloon nearly kills someone (1993)
In 1993, 20 mph winds caused Sonic the Hedgehog to go careening into a lamppost, knocking it over. A 10-year-old girl and an off-duty police officer were injured in the incident.
5. Twitter drags Matt Lauer's hosting gig (2017)
Disgraced morning show host Matt Lauer was also a bad parade host at last year's festivities. In addition to mispronouncing the name of a Gershwin show tune and looking grouchy and downbeat, he made a bizarrely timed segregation joke to Al Roker:
"We’re gonna take you back to the days of black and white now."
He then looked at Al Roker.
"Don’t go there,” Lauer cracked. Just watch Savannah Guthrie's reaction in the clip above.
Classy, right? Willard Scott, he isn't. He even got his own hashtag, #lauerfail, to mark the occasion.
Image: YouTube
4. The M&Ms balloon nearly kills someone (2005)
In 2005, there was another major accident, the first since the Cat in the Hat incident in 1997 (more on that later). A rope holding up the M&M's balloon clipped a lamppost and injured two sisters, 11 and 26 years old. The 11-year-old suffered a head injury, and the 26-year-old suffered a shoulder injury that required stitches.
This led to increased safety measures in future parades; the balloons are now subjected to more "real-life" pre-tests, and the organizers use wind measurement devices to gauge the potential risk. The balloons are also kept lower to the ground during the route to better control their movement.
Image: YouTube
3. "Elmo cause big controversy!" (2012)
Kevin Clash, the original voice and main puppeteer behind Sesame Street character Elmo, resigned from the show in November 2012, amidst accusations that he engaged in a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy.
Elmo was scheduled to participate in that year's Thanksgiving float, which some people found to be inappropriate, given the context. But Macy confirmed that Elmo would be in the parade under the control of another puppeteer. During the sing-along, however, the audience could hear Clash's Elmo voice on the track. Presumably, it was too late to edit it out on such short notice.
Image: 92YTribeca on Flickr (license)
2. The Tom Cat balloon almost causes a plane crash (1932)
Back in the day, before people developed common sense, Macy's thought it would be a good idea to release the massive balloons into the air after the parade. Whoever caught the balloon days later, when it landed back on Earth, would win a cash prize at Macy's. Environmental risks aside, it sounds like, a great idea, right? What could possibly go wrong?
In 1932, student pilot Annette Gipson attempted to recover the Tom Cat balloon by flying her plane into it. The result was that the balloon got caught in the plane's wings, and Gipson nearly crashed. Thankfully, her instructor managed to regain control of the aircraft and landed it safely.
Macy's stopped releasing balloons after that.
Image: YouTube
1. The Cat in the Hat balloon puts a woman in a coma (1997)
And lastly, the worst accident to take place at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was in 1997, the same year the NYPD knifed Barney. The 18-foot Cat in the Hat knocked into a lamppost, sending it crashing down onto four people.
One of the people, a female spectator, received a skull fracture and was in a coma for a month as a result of the accident. She later sued Macy's for $395 million, which was settled out of court.
As a result of this incident, Macy's changed its restrictions on the balloons' size and how high they could be flown, depending on the wind. Each balloon now requires 50-60 handlers, and the larger balloons are now anchored by small vehicles, to give them additional stability, thanks to this incident.
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