The 57th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1983)

Lineup	Gallery	Marching Order

The 56th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1982)

The 57th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1983)

The 58th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1984)

The 57th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
A newspaper ad for the 1983 Parade.
Date	November 24, 1983
Parade #	57
New Giant Balloons	Yogi Bear by Hanna-Barbera
New Floats	America's Comic Stars by United Media Enterprises Fraggle Rock by HBO and Jim Henson The Great American Dog by Purina Dog Chow A Hanna-Barbera Christmas by Hanna-Barbera
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The 57^th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held on November 24, 1983 in New York City, and was shown to viewers live on NBC that same day from 9 a.m. to noon EST. It was hosted by Bryant Gumbel and Sarah Purcell. The lineup featured 9 giant helium balloons, 12 marching bands, 15 floats, a host of celebrity appearances, and the one-and-only Santa Claus.

Parade Lineup

Listed below are the Parade elements that appeared in the 1983 line of march. Each element is listed in their respective categories/sub-categories, with sponsors in bold.

Bold indicates a new Parade element, strikethrough indicates an element that was removed from the lineup and an * indicates a Parade element that was retired following the 1983 procession.

Balloons

• Bullwinkle Moose* (Macy's) - 23rd time
• Underdog (Macy's) - 19th time
• Olive Oyl (King Features) - 2nd time
• Mickey Mouse* (Walt Disney Productions) - 13th time
• Kermit the Frog (Henson Associates) - 7th time
• Woody Woodpecker (Walter Lantz Productions) - 2nd time
• Superman (DC Comics) - 4th time
• Linus the Lionhearted* (Macy's) - 20th time
• Yogi Bear (Hanna-Barbera) - 1st time

Floats

• Turkey (Macy's) - 11th time
• Showboat (Macy's) - 14th time
• Stetson is America* (John B. Stetson Company) - 3rd time
• America's Comic Stars (United Media Enterprises) - 1st time
• Strawberry Shortcake (American Greetings) - 3rd time
• Fraggle Rock (HBO & Henson Associates) - 1st time
• Shirt Tales (Hallmark) - 2nd time
• The Great American Dog (Purina Dog Chow) - 1st time
• Big Apple (The New York Daily News) - 2nd time
• The Old Country Village (Anheuser-Busch) - 2nd time
• The Pirate Ship* (Macy's) - 15th time
• Frozen Woodland* (Sergio Valente) - 3rd time
• The Magic Carousel* (Revlon) - 2nd time
• A Hanna-Barbera Christmas* (Hanna-Barbera) - 1st time
• Santa's Sleigh (Macy's) - 6th time

Specialty Units

• The Flintmobile* (Hanna-Barbera) - 2nd time
• NYPD Mounted Police - 57th time
• "Holiday Treat for Children Everywhere" Banner (Macy's) - 3rd time
• GMC Banner (GMC Trucks) - 2nd time
• "If You Haven't Seen Macy's, You Haven't Seen New York" Banner (Macy's) - 3rd time
• NYC Parks Mounted Unit - 1st time
• Doodlebug (Macy's) - 4th time
• Christmas Wagon (Macy's) - 19th time

Toy Floats

• Pilgrim Man & Woman (Macy's) - 9th time
• George Washington & Ben Franklin (Macy's) - 9th time
• Bear Bee (Macy's) - 14th time
• Rocking Tortoise (Macy's) - 5th time
• Rocking Lion (Macy's) - 5th time
• Snail (Macy's) - 14th time
• Rocking Horse (Macy's) - 26th time
• Airplane (Macy's) - 17th time
• Rocking Lobster (Macy's) - 5th time
• Rocking Kangaroo (Macy's) - 5th time

Marching Bands

• Warren County High School Pioneer Band (McMinnville, TN), performed "Brand New Day"
• City of Coventry Corps of Drums (Coventry, England), performed "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"
• McDonald's All-American High School Band (Nationwide), performed "The Flying Theme" from E.T.
• Albertville High School Marching Aggie Band (Albertville, AL), performed "There's No Business Like Show Business"
• Acadiana High School Marching Band (Lafayette, LA), performed "On Broadway"
• Mililani High School Trojan Band (Mililani Town, HI)
• Miami Senior High School Million Dollar Band (Miami, FL), performed "New York, New York/Jingle Bell Rock"
• Liberty Baptist College Flames Marching Band (Lynchburg, VA)
• Queen's University Bands (Ontario, Canada)
• Wauzeka High School Marching Jays (Waseca, MN)
• Liberty High School Grenadier Band (Bethlehem, PA)
• Eastbrook Spirit Marching Band (Marion, IN)

Guest Stars

• Parade Official Jean McFaddin
• Charley Pride, sang "Down in Louisiana" (Turkey)
• NBC's Cast of We Got It Made, sang "Think Tall" (Showboat)
• Special Olympics (Showboat)
• Peter Billingsley, sang "Talk to the Animals" (Rocking Tortoise)
• Lynn Anderson and the Ballet Folklorico of Mexico, performed "You Can't Lose What You Never Had" (Stetson is America)
• Ashford & Simpson, sang "It's Much Deeper" (Rocking Lion)
• Alfonso Ribeiro, sang "Dancing is Everything" (America's Comic Stars)
• Strawberry Shortcake and Friends, performed "Berry Best Friend" (Strawberry Shortcake)
• Mr. Smith and Leonard Frey (Excalibur Car)
• The Fraggles, performed "Fraggle Rock Theme" (Fraggle Rock)
• The Shirt Tales, performed "A Christmas Tree for You and Me" (Shirt Tales)
• Walter Lantz and Grace Lantz (Excalibur Car)
• Jon "Bowzer" Bauman, sang "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" (Rocking Lobster)
• Glenn Scarpelli, sang "Don't Mess Up This Good Thing" (Doodlebug)
• Eddie Albert, sang "It's Friendship" (The Great American Dog)
• Miss America 1984 Vanessa Williams, sang "New York, New York" (Big Apple)
• Lou Rawls, sang "Wind Beneath My Wings" (The Old Country Village)
• Tommy Tune and Twiggy, sang "Little Jazz Bird" (The Magic Carousel)
• The Boys Choir of Harlem, performed "White Christmas" (Frozen Woodland)
• Hanna-Barbera Characters, performed "The Cleanup Brigade" (A Hanna-Barbera Christmas)
• Mary Jo Catlett, sang "I'm Giving Thanks" (Christmas Wagon)
• Santa Claus (Santa's Sleigh)

Special Characters

• Berenstain Bears
• Spider-Man and Captain America (Showboat)
• Norfin Trolls
• Snoopy, Garfield and Friends (America's Comic Stars)
• Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man and Baby Pac-Man
• Astrosnik
• Batman and Wonder Woman
• T.J. LUV and Amelia the Good Air Fairy
• Q*bert
• Hagar the Horrid
• Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble
• Macy Mouse and Honey Bear (Christmas Wagon)

Pre-Parade Acts

• Alvin and the Chipmunks, sang "Tomorrow"
• Ballet Hispánico of New York, performed "Zaragoza"
• Lara Jill Miller, sang "Letting Your Feelings Show"
• Taking My Turn, performed "I’m Fine for The Shape I’m In"
• The Shirt Tales, performed "Have a Very Merry Christmas"
• National Dance Institute, performed "What a Feeling"
• Joey Lawrence with The Flintstones, sang "Jingle Bell Rock"
• Cats, performed "Memory"

Clowns

• Skating Clowns - 16th time
• Baby Clowns - 2nd time
• Rain Rag Ballet Clowns - 3rd time

Clown Props

• Bells Jogging Wheel - 3rd time
• TV Props - 3rd time
• Glitz Jogging Wheel - 3rd time
• Paddy Wagon - 4th time
• Dog Catcher - 3rd time
• Smoking Outhouse - 4th time
• Fire Engine - 4th time
• Fire Pumper - 10th time
• Open Jogging Wheel - 3rd time
• Clown Car - 2nd time

Several dozen non-themed clown units also made an appearance in the 1983 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Trivia

• The night before the Parade, one of the Mickey Mouse balloon’s arms was torn off accidentally, later the balloon had completely exploded causing Mickey to be removed.