Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May, with him often being depicted as one of Santa Claus's many reindeer, being the one to guide Santa's Sleigh on Christmas Eve. The character was popularized by the song of the same name by Johnny Marks, as well as the holiday special by Rankin/Bass.
History with the Macy's Parade[]
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer first appeared as an original crafted float for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from 1949 to 1951. He would later make a return as a Falloon in 1998, sponsored by GoodTimes Entertainment to promote the animated Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie. The beloved Christmas icon also became the 1998 Holiday Ambassador for Macy's. Despite the box-office failure of the film. It continued to make subsequent appearances from 1999 to 2001, when it was retired. Despite this, the Rudolph falloon was used as a decoration at Universal Orlando Florida in 2012, during the run of Macy's Holiday Parade. Additionally, some of the paintbrushes from the falloon still survive at Macy’s Parade Studio to this day.
Incident[]
- In 1998, the Rudolph figure randomly deflated at Central Park West, but was re-inflated later on.
Guest Stars[]
Listed below are the guest stars that have performed/appeared on the float, alongside the respective songs which they sang during the NBC telecast.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1998)[]
- 1998 - The Pointer Sisters sang "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
- 1999 - Florence Henderson sang "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
- 2000 - Andrea McArdle and Alexis Kalehoff sang "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
- 2001 - Tony Bennett sang "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"