Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a children's book series and media franchise created by author and cartoonist Jeff Kinney. The series of eighteen books, published by Abrams Books, follows the daily adventures of Greg Heffley, a middle school student who illustrates his predicaments with simple drawings in his diary (or rather, journal). The first Diary of a Wimpy Kid book was published on April 1, 2007, and the series has since received positive reviews and commercial success. As of 2024, there have been more than 290 million copies of the series sold worldwide.
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has extended past the world of books, with films based on the first, second, fourth and ninth books produced by Twentieth Century Fox, and three more based on the first, second and sixth books made by Walt Disney Studios for the streaming service Disney+. Other books released outside of the main series include two do-it yourself books, two books detailing the process of creating the live-action Diary of a Wimpy Kid feature films and three Rowley Jefferson themed spin-offs; Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson's Journal, Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure and Rowley Jefferson's Friendly Awesome Spooky Stories.
History with the Macy's Parade[]
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010-2015)[]
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise made its Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade debut in 2010, when the series' main character was introduced as one of two new character balloons making their debut that year. Greg Heffley leaped from the pages of his books to the skies of New York City in the form of a giant helium balloon and was anything but wimpy, measuring 56 feet high, 60 feet long, and 28 feet wide. Flying at a 50-foot altitude, the balloon’s design featured Greg clutching his famous diary as he wrote about all the crazy stuff that happened as he floated down the Parade route. The 280-pound balloon-cartoon required 90 handlers.
In an interview, Jeff Kinney spoke of the balloon’s debut, saying that having his character fly in the Macy’s Parade “is very exciting and an honor I could never have imagined. It is so cool to think that my character has become iconic enough to warrant inclusion in this historic Parade.” Kinney himself would serve as a balloon handler on the balloon in 2012.
To coincide with the balloon’s debut, Abrams Books sponsored sweepstakes to win a trip to New York City to see the new balloon in person. The winning entry received airfare for four people, a hotel room for two nights, and VIP grandstand tickets to watch the Parade live as it made its way down the streets of Manhattan.
During its time in the Parade, the balloon would promote the most recent book in the Wimpy Kid series, such as The Ugly Truth in 2010, Cabin Fever in 2011, The Third Wheel in 2012, Hard Luck in 2013, The Long Haul in 2014, and Old School in 2015. Following its appearance in the 2015 Parade, the Greg Heffley balloon was retired and disposed of and cut up of sometime after that.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid V2 (2016-2021)[]
Greg Heffley would return to the Parade's line of march for the 2016 Parade, as a brand-new giant helium balloon. Transformed to more closely resemble Greg’s colorful new look as illustrated in the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, the Greg Heffley balloon prepares for the winter decked out in red snow boots, blue puffer coat, red earmuffs and a green and yellow striped scarf. While he may be bundled up for the Thanksgiving Day weather, the second Greg Heffley balloon features Greg clumsily taking a tumble down the route with his arm outstretched to break his fall, having slipped on an icy surface with his nose buried in his Diary.
Commenting on the colorful and energetic new balloon design Jeff Kinney, author and illustrator said, “As a creator, this will be a huge day because I started with a pencil sketch, and we tried lots of different ideas. For the new balloon, we wanted to do something really different and dramatic.” The second Greg Heffley balloon measures much larger than his predecessor, at 62-feet long, 32-feet wide and is 62-feet tall. Kinney added, “It’s extremely exhilarating to see it come to life.” Kinney would go on once again to be a balloon handler during the balloon's debut appearance in 2016 and later in 2019.
The balloon was originally scheduled to be flown for the reimagined 2020 Parade with the help of a special framework of five utility vehicles, which were installed on several giant balloons to help reduce the number of handlers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The balloon was later cut from the live procession as COVID-19 cases started to rise throughout November. As a result, the balloon's appearances used were from its appearances from the 2017 and 2019 NBC telecasts.
The Greg Heffley balloon returned live to the streets of NYC for the 2021 Parade. The balloon became entangled with tree branches at the Parade's step-off point; however, the balloon handlers freed the balloon before any damage was done. The balloon's face, however, lost helium throughout its march, though it was unrelated to the aforementioned incident. Following the 2021 Parade, the second Greg Heffley balloon was retired, making six appearances.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid V3 (2022-present)[]
Greg would return to the Parade's line of march for the 2022 Parade, as a brand-new giant helium balloon. Greg's design is now based on his recent look from the animated films on Disney+. Greg is depicted carrying his trusty backpack without any trace of his journal, but the balloon had a new accompanying balloonicle which is the moldy cheese as it was known as "The Cheese Touch" from the original Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. This also marked the first balloon-balloonicle combination in the Parade. Throughout Thanksgiving Day, Greg was in a crouched position trying to touch the cheese while flying through Manhattan. Creator of Diary of a Wimpy Kid Jeff Kinney helped fly the balloon on its first flight down NYC.
Before the balloon's debut, Jeff Kinney was interviewed on an episode of the podcast Meeting Halfway. It was released on October 28, and during the episode Kinney revealed that the original Greg Heffley balloon was "shredded" sometime after its retirement. Jeff Kinney added that he had signed a certificate of authenticity to go along with a swatch of the balloon.[1]
Greg made sure to avoid touching the cheese for the second time in the 2023 Parade. However, one thing it was unable to avoid touching was a tree at 77th Street, which ripped open the balloon's left hand before step-off. Despite that, no further incident involving the balloon would occur afterwards.
The current Greg Heffley will take his third flight in 2024.
Trivia[]
- The original Greg Heffley is the most recent giant balloon known to be disposed of.