Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Wiki

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Olaf the Snowman is a fictional character from the 2013 animated film Frozen, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Olaf is depicted as a friendly, joyful and goofy snowman that was sprung to life by Elsa's magical powers. In the film, Olaf helps Anna, Kristoff and Sven as they search for Elsa after she had run away after she had accidently turned the Kingdom of Arendelle into a wintery, snowy and cold abyss.

Olaf would later star in his own theatrical short titled "Olaf's Frozen Adventure", which was released on November 22nd, 2017, and played before the Disney/Pixar animated film, "Coco".

History with the Macy's Parade[]

The ever-lovable Olaf would make his Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade debut at the 2017 Parade, in the form of a 60-foot-tall giant helium balloon. The balloon was designed by Chris Buck, one of the directors of Frozen, who would later man the balloon during its inaugural flight. The balloon depicts Olaf reaching out to Parade spectators in hopes of receiving a much-cherished warm hug as he soars down the streets of Manhattan.

The balloon was made to promote a new featurette, Olaf's Frozen Adventure, which debuted before Disney/Pixar's Coco one day prior to the 2017 Parade. The balloon is also special in that is uses a special glitter-paint mixture to give the effect of snow glistening in the sun. Former Macy's Parade Studio Senior Director John Piper commented on the challenge of creating Olaf's stick arms in an interview, stating "trying to get those branch arms to look exactly right, which are very, very thin and small in a giant inflatable is not easy".[1]

The Olaf balloon would continue to make two more consecutive appearances in the 2018 Parade and the 2019 Parade, the former appearance of which promoted the film Frozen 2. The Olaf balloon was retired from the line of march after 2019 and has since been absent.

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References[]

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