The 49th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1975) | The 50th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1976) | The 51st Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1977) |
The 50th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held on November 25th, 1976 in New York City, and shown to viewers live on NBC that same day from 9 a.m. to noon EST. It was hosted by McLean Stevenson, Della Reese, and Ed McMahon. The lineup featured nine giant character balloons, 19 floats, 13 marching bands, more than 450 clowns, and the one-and-only Santa Claus.
Parade Lineup[]
Listed below are the parade elements that appeared in the 1976 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They are categorized by unit type, with their respective sponsors in bold. Home locations of talent ensembles are featured in brackets, and guest star’s float appearances are indicated in bold.
Bold denotes a new parade element, an underline indicates a unit that was brought back after an absence, and an asterisk (*) signifies an element that was retired after the 1976 Parade.
Balloons[]
- Snoopy (United Media) - 9th time
Weeble(Hasbro) - 2nd time- Mickey Mouse (Walt Disney Productions) - 6th time
- Linus the Lionhearted (Macy's) - 13th time
- Smokey Bear (Macy's) - 11th time
- Happy Dragon (Macy's) - 16th time
- Underdog (Macy's) - 12th time
- Dino the Dinosaur* (Macy's) - 14th time
- Bullwinkle Moose (Macy's) - 16th time
Floats[]
- Thanksgiving Day Turkey (Macy's) - 4th time
- The Old Country (Anheuser-Busch, Inc.) - 2nd time
- The Walt Disney World Castle (Walt Disney Productions) - 6th time
- Peter Pan (Walt Disney Productions) - 8th time
- Showboat (Macy's) - 8th time
- The Cootie (Schaper) - 2nd time
- Doodlebug (Macy's) - 7th time
- Raggedy Ann and Andy (Knickerbocker Toy Company) - 2nd time
- Cinderella (Dr. Pepper) - 8th time
Planet of the Apes* (The Mego Corporation) - 3rd time- The Wizard of Oz* (Macy's) - 3rd time
- The Woman in the Shoe* (Macy's) - 8th time
- Motorcycle in the Sky* (Ideal Toy Corporation) - 1st time
- Mother Goose (Macy's) - 3rd time
- Giant Juke Box (FM 99 WXLO) - 1st time
- Sesame Street (Children's Television Workshop) - 3rd time
- Santa's Sleigh* (Macy's) - 1st time
Specialty Units[]
- N.Y.P.D. Mounted Police - 50th time
- "Holiday Treat for Children Everywhere" Banner (Macy's) - 13th time
- McDonald's Drum* (McDonald's) - 1st time
- Disney Wagon (Walt Disney Productions) - 12th time
- Greasemobile* (Atlantic Records) - 1st time
- If You Haven't Seen Macy's, You Haven't Seen New York" Banner (Macy's) - 13th time
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police* - 2nd time
- Excalibur Car (Macy's) - 2nd time
Push Floats[]
- Rocking Horse (Macy's) - 19th time
- Pilgrim Man & Woman (Macy's) - 2nd time
- Snail (Macy's) - 8th time
- Humpty Dumpty* (Macy's) - 4th time
- Clown Head #1 (Macy's) - 7th time
- Clown Head #2 (Macy's) - 7th time
- Clown Head #3 (Macy's) - 7th time
- Clown Shack* (Macy's) - 9th time
- Rocking Giraffe (Macy's) - 7th time
- Clown Head #4 (Macy's) - 7th time
- Ben Franklin (Macy's) - 2nd time
- Airplane (Macy's) - 10th time
- George Washington (Macy's) - 2nd time
- The Tortoise & The Hare* (Macy's) - 9th time
- Bear Bee (Macy's) - 6th time
Marching Bands[]
- Tate High School Showband of the South (Pensacola, FL), performed "The South's Going to Rise Again"
- McDonald's All-American High School Band (Nationwide)
- Bonnabel Senior High School Bruin Band (Metairie, LA)
- Morris Brown College Marching Wolverines (Atlanta, GA)
- U.S. Naval Academy Drum & Bugle Corps (Annapolis, MD)
- Onteora High School Marching Band (Boiceville, NY)
- Kalani High School Marching Band (Honolulu, HI)
- Defiance High School Marching Band of Class (Defiance, OH)
- U.S. Air Force Academy Drum & Bugle Corps (Colorado Springs, CO)
- U.S. Coast Guard Windjammers (New London, CT)
- The Dundee Scots (Dundee, IL)
Guest Stars[]
- Shari Lewis, sang "I'm a Brass Band" (Rocking Horse)
- Howdy Doody, Buffalo Bob, Clarabell, and Happy Harmony, sang "A Howdy Doody Christmas" (Thanksgiving Day Turkey)
- Schuhplattler Dancers, performed a Schuplattler dance (The Old Country)
- Roberta Peters and Justino Diaz, sang "Make Believe" (Showboat)
- The West Point Glee Club, sang "The Drunken Sailor" (Showboat)
- Della Reese, sang "Never Can Say Goodbye" (Doodlebug)
- Laverne & Shirley, sang "Da Doo Ron Ron" (Greasemobile)
- Raggedy Ann and Andy, performed "Rag Dolly" (Raggedy Ann and Andy)
- Miss Teenage America Karen Peterson (Cinderella)
- Paul Williams, sang "You Give a Little Love" (Excalibur Car)
- The Cast of Bugsy Malone (Excalibur Car)
- Martha Raye, sang "On the Sunny Side of the Street" (The Woman in the Shoe)
- Evel Knievel & Robbie Knievel (Motorcycle in the Sky)
- Barry Manilow and Lady Flash, sang "It's a Miracle" (Giant Juke Box)
- The Cast of Sesame Street, sang "What's the Name of That Song?" (Sesame Street)
- Santa Claus (Santa's Sleigh)
Costumed Characters[]
- The Old Country Characters (The Old Country)
- Weebles
- Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Donald Duck (Disney Wagon)
- Goofy, Pluto, and the Shaggy Dog (The Walt Disney World Castle)
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
- Peter Pan, Wendy, Captain Hook, and Mr. Smee (Peter Pan)
- Mr. Chuck the Parade Clown
- Pink Panther (The Cootie)
- Woody Woodpecker (Rocking Giraffe)
- Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, and the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wizard of Oz)
- The Big Apple Mascot
Performance Groups[]
- Grace King Kolleens (Metairie, LA)
- Chinese Acrobats of Taiwan (New York City, NY)
- The Radio City Rockettes, performed "All That Jazz"
Clowns[]
- Skating Clowns - 9th time
Incidents & Defect[]
Incidents[]
- As with the previous year, Weeble couldn't finish the Parade route as it had been punctured by a streetlight at the starting line. The balloon remained flying close to the ground before eventually collapsing at Times Square, being removed five minutes later.
- Underdog's right hand was punctured by a streetlight.
Defects[]
- Dino's neck was slightly bent.
NBC Credits[]
- Produced and Directed by: Dick Schneider
- Written by: Joseph Scher
- Production Manager: Arthur White
- Musical Director: Milton DeLugg
- Production Associate: Nancy Labounty
- Unit Manager: Elmer Gorry
- Music Coordinator: Chuck Bird
- Production Assistant: Shirlee Strother
- Technical Coordinators: Howard Eitelbach and Robert Bartnik
- Associate Directors: Rodger Wolf, Bob Caminiti, and Marilyn Jacobs
- Stage Managers: Brownie, George Charles, Doug Coutler, Joseph Disco, Fred Manni, and Ed Prendergast
- Technical Directors: Bill Kelley and Frank Dereinzo
- Lighting Director: Robert McEwan
- Video: Sal Benza
- Audio: Sam Sambataro and Philip F. Falcone
- Art Director: Carden Bailey
- Choreographed by: James Starbuck
- Graphic Arts by: Walter Slovik