Macy’s has announced the lineup of balloons for the 98th Thanksgiving Day parade and a veteran Pokémon float will be making its annual appearance again. The famous Pikachu and Eevee Pokésled balloon will return and mark 24 consecutive years that Pokémon has appeared in the parade. It’s nice to see old reliable come back, but there are surprisingly some omissions this year.
One of the biggest exclusions is that of Mario, who has appeared in previous years as what many assumed would be a standard inclusion. Another shocking omission is Sonic the Hedgehog, who has been in countless numbers of Macy’s parades since the ’90s. This is doubly surprising considering Paramount is gearing up to release Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in just under a month. You’d think there would be some cross-promotion going on, but I guess not.
Now, Macy’s isn’t the only company that announces which balloons will be appearing in its parade. In past years, The Pokémon Company would signify whether or not Pikachu and pals would fly down the streets of NYC and Nintendo has revealed if Mario would be included. There could be some holdouts simply because companies haven’t gotten around to announcing everything yet. Even still, it’s kind of bizarre that we’re two days away from the parade and Sonic hasn’t been confirmed.
You can find the (currently) full list of balloons over on Macy’s website. There will be 22 balloons this year with six brand-new ones for 2024.
When will the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade air?
You can watch the parade on NBC and Peacock this Thursday, November 28th, from 8:30 a.m. to noon in all time zones.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
