Happy Dragon is an original Macy’s character who originated as a giant balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. He is said to have been woken up one Thanksgiving morning while sleeping in his cave by the throngs of Parade spectators lining the streets of New York City. He intended to scare them off, however his heart of gold shined through and he joined the procession for many decades.
History with the Macy's Parade[]
Happy Dragon (1960-1964, 1966-1981, 1991-1992)[]
The original Happy Dragon balloon was “born” in the summer of 1960 at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company plant located in Phoenix, Arizona.[1] The 75-foot long beast was constructed with 2,835 square feet of neoprene-coated nylon fabric and 82 gallons of paint in six different colors.[2] Huge tusks and horns extend from the 10-foot head, which displays a smile and a long red tongue, lolling from his mouth. When the balloon’s six-week construction finished, it was shipped to Akron, Ohio for its test flight at the city’s Goodyear hangar.
The Happy Dragon balloon would later make its debut in the 1960 Parade, soaring down the streets of Manhattan with the help of two eight-foot wings extending from his body, in addition to 22 handling lines and a team of balloon handlers. Coverage of that year’s Parade identified the balloon as the “highlight of the Parade,” noting that “children squealed in delight at a dragon flying overhead.”[3]
Initially scheduled to fly through the 1963 Parade, Happy Dragon was brought back as a replacement balloon in 1964 after the Popeye balloon suffered defects that proved too serious to repair before kick-off. The Happy Dragon balloon took a brief hiatus the following year, however it returned to the lineup for the 1966 Parade; a return that would last for nearly two decades. A year later though, in 1967, the balloon’s middle horn was deflated, but the balloon suffered no damage after.
The Happy Dragon balloon faced its first major accident in 1971. Due to gale-force winds and pelting rain the night before the Parade, only three of the giant balloons were able to be brought outside and inflated—Astronaut Snoopy, Smokey Bear and Happy Dragon. All three balloons suffered damages and were subsequently removed from the lineup. Happy’s wounds included a head puncture, received after the balloon escaped its netting.
The balloon would be repaired in the following weeks, and Happy Dragon once again delighted spectators at the 1972 Parade.
Happy’s return appearance wouldn’t be without incident, however. The balloon was scheduled to join the Parade behind the Snow Mountain Float, however a police horse unloaded a large amount of excrement before the balloon turned the corner to join the Parade. The cleanup of the droppings took several minutes and delayed the Dragon's appearance. The balloon was able to soar onto Central Park West just a few minutes later, behind the Storybook Train Float.[4]
Happy Dragon suffers a head wound at the 1978 Parade.
Happy Dragon would suffer yet another accident in 1978. Wind gusts shoved the balloon into a lamp post at Columbus Circle, an act that was captured on CBS’ broadcast of the procession.[5] As the balloon wilted to the pavement below and was removed from the lineup, Goodyear officials feared that the damages were so severe that the Happy Dragon balloon would not be able to be repaired. Repairs were indeed made, however, and the balloon was patched up for its 1979 Parade appearance.
The balloon’s original tenure came to an end following 1981, however it wouldn’t be the last the Parade saw of the delighted reptilian.
Happy Dragon appeared via a tribute segment during the NBC telecast of the 1982 Parade, where Bryant Gumbel mentions Happy was unable to attend the Parade that year, citing Mrs. Dragon's frustrations of him not being home to carve the turkey.[6]
Happy Dragon was set to make a brief reprise appearance at the first-ever Macy’s-Egleston Christmas Parade in Atlanta, Georgia in December 1983. Though the balloon was inflated, it was pulled from the lineup for unknown reasons.
The Happy Dragon balloon returned to the Parade a decade later in 1991, celebrating the 65th anniversary of the famed holiday spectacle. Now billed as a “vintage balloon,”[7] Happy Dragon returned to the skies of NYC alongside other retired balloon favorites such as Linus the Lionhearted and Raggedy Ann to make an anniversary Parade worth remembering.
Reprising its role as the “senior balloon,” Happy Dragon returned to the lineup for one final time at the 1992 Parade, with a record breaking 23rd flight. Following this appearance, the original Happy Dragon was permanently retired from the line of march.
Aftermath (First Version)[]
After the balloon’s final flight, it would be kept at the Macy’s Parade Studio in Hoboken, New Jersey for many years, then later at the Macy’s Parade Warehouse. In 2010, plans were tentatively made to bring the balloon back for one last flight at that year’s Parade; this would be scrapped, however, due to concerns that the utility vehicles required to shepherd the balloons down the route could damage the dragon. Its existence was last confirmed in 2016,[8] by then no longer able to hold helium, but still being preserved by Macy’s—it was swatched not long after.[9]
Rex the Happy Dragon (2012, 2016-2017)[]
In 2012, Happy Dragon would indeed take to the skies once again, as Macy’s commissioned Big Ideas Parade Giants to create a recreation of the original balloon. Named “Rex the Happy Dragon” after Macy’s balloonatic and Paralympian Rex Young, the 58-foot-long new balloon was a high-flying tribute to the original Happy Dragon balloon, with a 25-foot grin that stretched from scale to scale.[10] The Rex the Happy Dragon balloon made its debut at a Field Training in September of that year, before appearing in the 2012 Macy’s Parade that November.
Though initially planned to fly in just one parade, Rex returned to the lineup for the 90th anniversary procession in 2016, then again the following year. Since then, the Parade has been without a Happy Dragon balloon.
Trivia[]
- Appearing in 23 parades over 32 years, the original Happy Dragon is tied with the original Bullwinkle for being the Parade's most often-recurring balloon, in addition to being the longest-running balloon in Macy's Parade history.
- The original Happy Dragon and Bullwinkle are the earliest balloons to reach 20 appearances.
- Rex Smith, who Rex the Happy Dragon was named after, appeared alongside the balloon during all of its appearances dressed as a Jester.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ File:The Daily American Sat Nov 19 1960 .jpg
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/TheBigParadeHistoryProject.net/photos/a.298403456858517/4350004695031686
- ↑ File:Arizona Republic Fri Nov 25 1960 .jpg
- ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/718347533/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehk5cfEEzfU
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01iCRY5vVig
- ↑ File:1991-Lineup-Ad.png
- ↑ https://kadamsbaum.smugmug.com/Macys-Photos/Macys-Studio-Tour-Nov-15-2016/i-tfL7Xrh/A
- ↑ Facebook post from Robert M. Grippo.
- ↑ https://virtualofficefaq.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/all-about-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-balloons-2012/
