Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Tim Burton Will Have Creepy Balloon In Macy's Thanksgiving Parade
By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Oct 21, 2011
Modified Oct 21, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Macy's
By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Oct 21, 2011
Modified Oct 21, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Multi-talented artist and filmmaker Tim Burton can now add "parade participant" to his resume: the creepily-inclined director has just announced that he is designing a new balloon for this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The team behind the parade has apparently been courting Burton for years, and he finally gave in. The character he invented for the parade is B. Boy, whose backstory goes like this: "B. was created, Frankenstein’s monster-style, from the leftover balloons used in children’s parties at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Forbidden from playing with other children because of his jagged teeth and crazy-quilt stitching, B. retreated to a basement lair, where he obsesses over Albert Lamorisse’s film The Red Balloon and dreams that he, too, will be able to fly someday."
For parents concerned that Burton's darker tendencies will shine forth a bit too brightly, Amy Kule, the executive producer of the parade, says hush now: "Tim’s balloon, although gothic, is really fun in spirit, and nobody should be worried that it’s going to be scary or should be part of a nighttime parade rather than a daytime parade. We’re pretty cognizant about what we put in the air, and this balloon deserves to be up there with all the others.”
Burton's float joins a growing number of non-traditional balloons—previous designs have come from Takashi Murakami (Kaikai and Kiki), Jeff Koons (Silver Bunny) and Keith Haring—which are pretty much the only thing worth fighting the screaming tourist mobs to see.
Tagged
b. boy
balloon
float
thanksgiving day parade
tim burton
Jamie Feldmar
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Will Barnes and Noble in the East Village spell doom for smaller shops? It's complicated.
Independent booksellers are grappling with whether the big-box chain is a threat or an ally in the fight against Amazon.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 16, 2026
Can eligible NYC singles find love with 30 minutes and some really spicy food?
We went to the Spiciest Supper Club singles night to take the temperature of New York City's dating scene.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
Can eligible NYC singles find love with 30 minutes and some really spicy food?
We went to the Spiciest Supper Club singles night to take the temperature of New York City's dating scene.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
How the NYC Marathon has changed in the last 50 years
By
Hannah Frishberg
A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
By
Sonia Rao
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .