The 57th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
A newspaper ad for the 1983 Parade.
The 57th 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 . Participating celebrities included the likes of Lynn Anderson , Peter Billingsley , Mary Jo Catlett , Tommy Tune , Twiggy , and Vanessa Williams .
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 [ ] Floats [ ] Specialty Units [ ] Toy Floats [ ] 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 [ ] Pre-Parade Acts [ ] Clowns [ ] Clown Props [ ] 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. 
