The 72nd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1998)

Lineup	Gallery	Marching Order

The 71st Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1997)

The 72nd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1998)

The 73rd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1999)

The 72nd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Under rainy skies and gusting winds, the 1998 Macy's Parade marched on and ushered in another holiday season.
Date	November 26, 1998
Parade #	72
New Giant Balloons	Babe by Universal Pictures Wild Thing by Bell Atlantic Dexter by Cartoon Network
New Floats	Sesame Street by Children's Television Workshop The King & I by Morgan Creek Productions Barney's Gingerbread House by Lyrick Studios Rip Van Winkle Wakin' Up by Folgers Coffee P.T. Flea's Circus by Disney·Pixar Heimlich by Disney·Pixar
Previous	The 71st Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1997)
Next	The 73rd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1999)

The 72^nd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held on November 26, 1998, 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 Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, and Al Roker. The lineup featured 12 giant helium balloons, 19 novelty balloons, 18 floats and five falloons, six toy floats, 12 marching bands, 11 special groups, 38 clown units, and the one-and-only Santa Claus.

Parade Lineup

Listed below are the parade elements that appeared in the 1998 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 the 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, a strikethrough signifies a parade unit that was sidelined before or during the march, and an asterisk (*) indicates an element that was retired after the 1998 Parade.

Balloons

Giant Balloons

• Big Bird (Children's Television Workshop) - 11th time
• Babe* (Universal Pictures) - 1st time
• Barney (Lyrick Studios) - 5th time
• Garfield (PAWS, Inc.) - 13th time
• Maurice Sendak's Wild Thing (Bell Atlantic) - 1st time
• Arthur (Little Brown Children's Publishing) - 2nd time
• Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit* (Frederick Ward & Company) - 3rd time
• Spider-Man* (Marvel Comics) - 12th time
• Rugrats (Nickelodeon) - 2nd time
• Dexter (Cartoon Network) - 1st time
• Quik Bunny (Nestlé USA) - 11th time
• Eben Bear* (The John Deere Company) - 4th time

Novelty Balloons

• Cloe the Holiday Clown (Macy's) - 5th time
• Macy's Stars (Macy's) - 13th time
• Pumpkins* (Macy's) - 7th time
• Geometric Ornaments* (Macy's) - 9th time
• Ice Cream Cone (Macy's) - 12th time
• Macy's Stars (Macy's) - 13th time
• Baseball, Basketball and Football (New York Sports Club) - 8th time
• Harold the Fireman (Macy's) - 3rd time
• Ice Stars (Macy's) - 12th time

Floats

• Tom Turkey (Macy's) - 6th time
• Sesame Street (Children's Television Workshop) - 1st time
• Cornucopia* (Macy's) - 4th time
• The King & I* (Morgan Creek Productions) - 1st time
• Barney's Gingerbread House* (Lyrick Studios) - 1st time
• The Magical World of Mother Goose* (Macy's) - 8th time
• Mr. Peanut's Circus (Planters Company) - 2nd time
• Rip Van Winkle Wakin' Up (Folgers Coffee) - 1st time
• Soaring Spirit Canoe (Macy's) - 13th time
• Jolly Polly Pirate Ship (Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.) - 5th time
• M&M's Network (M&M's Chocolate Candies) - 1st time
• Westward Ho!* (Macy's) - 3rd time
• P.T. Flea's Circus* (Disney/Pixar) - 1st time
• Heimlich* (Disney/Pixar) - 1st time
• Pep Rally (Mike Miller & Associates) - 3rd time
• Statue of Liberty (GMC) - 6th time
• Big Apple (The New York Daily News) - 16th time
• Party Time!* (Hanes Hosiery) - 3rd time
• Flights of Fancy (Continental Airlines) - 4th time
• Santaland Express (OshKosh B'Gosh) - 14th time
• Snow Family Holiday (Fox/Family Channel) - 3rd time
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (GoodTimes Entertainment) - 1st time
• Annabelle's Wish* (Discover Card) - 2nd time
• Santa's Sleigh (Macy's) - 21st time

Specialty Units

• NYPD Motorcycle Unit - 14th time
• "Holiday Treat for Children Everywhere" Banner - 18th time
• George Washington on Horseback* (Mount Vernon/New York Historical Society) - 1st time
• Black Cowboys Association of Brooklyn* - 3rd time
• "If You Haven't Seen Macy*s, You Haven't Seen New York" Banner - 18th time
• NYPD Mounted Unit - 72nd time

Toy Floats

• Mother Duck & Ducklings* (Macy's) - 6th time
• Mr. Snail (Macy's) - 31st time
• Mr. Tortoise (Macy's) - 20th time
• Rocking Horse (Macy's) - 40th time
• Rocking Lion (Macy's) - 20th time
• Rocking Lobster (Macy's) - 19th time

Marching Bands

• Franklin High School Marching Rebel Band (Franklin, TN), performed "Seventy-Six Trombones"
• Fayetteville High School Marching Bulldog Band (Fayetteville, AR), performed "Give My Regards to Broadway"
• Walton High School Marching Band (Marietta, GA), performed "Love Lies Bleeding"
• Banda Escolar de Guayanilla (Guyanilla, Peurto Rico), performed "Chips N' Salsa"
• Kilgore College Band and Rangerettes (Kilgore, TX), performed "Texas Medley"
• West High School Entertainment Unit (Torrance, CA), performed "Hooray for Hollywood"
• United States Merchant Marine Academy Marching Band (Kings Point, NY), performed "A Life on the Ocean Wave"
• NYPD Marching Band (New York, NY), performed "42nd Street"
• Brandon Valley High School Marching Lynx (Brandon, SD), performed "West Side Story Medley"
• Arapahoe High School Warrior Marching Band (Littleton, CO), performed "Star Trek Voyage"
• Red Land High School Patriot Marching Band (Lewisberry, PA), performed "NY Traffic Stop"
• Illinois State University Big Red Marching Machine (Normal, IL), performed "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"

Guest Stars

• Parade Official Jean McFaddin
• Martina McBride, sang "Happy Girl" (Tom Turkey)
• The Stars of Sesame Street, sang "Sing" (Sesame Street)
• Eric McCormick and Debra Messing (Cornucopia)
• Christiane Noll, sang "Getting to Know You" (The King & I)
• Barney, sang "If All the Raindrops" (Barney's Gingerbread House)
• John McDonough, The All New Captain Kangaroo (The Magical World of Mother Goose)
• 98°, sang "Because of You" (Mr. Peanut's Circus)
• Rockapella, sang "Wake Up" (Rip Van Winkle Wakin' Up)
• Judy Collins, sang "The Fallow Way" (Soaring Spirit Canoe)
• Cathy Rigby, sang "I Gotta Crow" (Peter Pan's Pirate Ship)
• *NSYNC, sang "Tearin' Up My Heart" (M&M's Network)
• Jo Dee Messina, sang "I'm Alright" (Westward Ho!)
• Flik & Atta and The Cast of A Bug's Life, performed "The Flik Machine" (P.T. Flea's Circus)
• Kenny Rogers, sang "Heroes" (Statue of Liberty)
• The Toms River, NJ Little League '98 World Champions (Statue of Liberty)
• Joe Torre, Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez and Graeme Llyod (Big Apple)
• Monica, sang "Angel of Mine" (Party Time!)
• Taikoza Taiko Drummers and the Japanese Folk Dance Institute of New York (Flights of Fancy)
• Chicago, sang "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" (Santaland Express)
• The Cast of The New Addams Family, sang "Ring-A-Ding-Ding" (Snow Family Holiday)
• The Pointer Sisters, performed "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer)
• Kevin Sharp, performed "If You Believe" (Annabelle's Wish)
• Santa Claus (Santa's Sleigh)

Costumed Characters

• Muffy VanderBear and PocaHoppy
• Queen Bee and Her Court
• Mad Hatter (Mr. Snail)
• Alice in Wonderland
• Wompkee
• Mother Goose and Friends
• Pocahontas and Davy Crockett (Soaring Spirit Canoe)
• M&M's (M&M's Network)
• Spider-Man and Wolverine
• Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Betacarotine, Lycopene and Lupein
• Toxie
• Daren
• Fremont and Purscilla
• Dee Dee
• Teddy Bear and Mrs. Claus

Performance Groups

• Funny Factory Clown Band (Colts Neck, NJ)
• Field Musick of the American Revolution (Nationwide), performed "Yankee Doodle Dandy"
• Universal Cheer & Dance Association (Nationwide), performed "The UCDA Salute"
• Mike Miller Dance Team (Nationwide), performed "Salute to the Millennium"

Pre-Parade Acts

• America Sings!, performed "Big City Beat"
• Footloose, performed "Footloose"
• Cabaret, performed "Willkommen"
• The Scarlett Pimpernel, performed "Into the Fire"
• The Radio City Rockettes, performed "Christmas in New York"
• Annie Get Your Gun, performed "There's No Business Like Show Business"

Clowns

• Skating Clowns - 30th time
• Countdown Clowns - 5th time
• Alphabet Block Clowns - 6th time
• Funny Farm Clowns - 5th time
• American Gothic Clowns - 5th time
• Rain Ballet Clowns - 5th time
• Holiday Clowns #1 - 4th time
• Birthday Clowns* - 6th time
• Banana Split Clowns - 3rd time
• Elephant Clowns - 5th time
• Hula Hoop Clowns - 7th time
• Baby Clowns - 17th time
• Holiday Lanes Bowling League - 6th time
• Bells Jogging Wheel Clowns - 5th time
• Caribbean Fiesta Clowns* - 3rd time
• Tropical Fruit Clowns - 4th time
• Wave Clowns* - 2nd time
• Keystone Kops - 3rd time
• Cactus & Cowboy Clowns - 7th time
• Jester Clowns - 2nd time
• Baseball Clowns* - 2nd time
• Patriotic Clowns - 3rd time
• Holiday Clowns #2* - 4th time
• Funny Firefighter Brigade* - 12th time
• Peppy-Roni Pizza Clowns - 6th time
• Funny Bone Medical Team - 5th time
• Uptown Doggie Walkers - 5th time
• Klassical Clowns - 3rd time
• Glitz Jogging Wheel Clowns - 5th time
• Holiday Clowns #3 - 5th time
• Open Jogging Wheel Clowns - 5th time

Clown Vehicles

• Funny Farm Produce Truck - 5th time
• Banana Split Vehicle* - 3rd time
• Paddy Wagon - 19th time
• Fire Truck, Fire Engine and Smoking Outhouse - 19th time
• Clown Ambulance - 16th time
• Dog Catcher - 5th time

Incidents

• The Blue Geometric Ornament balloon was punctured by an unknown obstacle the night before the Parade and was removed.
• A chamber inside burst on the Garfield balloon at 77th Street. Due to the damages, the balloon was taken out of the parade lineup.
• Spider-Man's stomach tore open by the pressure of the utility vehicles and was removed, resulting in the balloon's retirement.
• A lack of handlers on the Quik Bunny balloon caused it to go out of control, eventually being punctured and deflated by a tree.
• A gust of wind pushed Wild Thing into a lamppost on 77th Street, tearing a 10-foot long gash in its left side. The damage was deemed too extensive and the balloon was removed from the lineup.
• Dexter's right rocket was deflated during his debut march, he would be able to survive the route though.

Trivia

• The Flying Fish balloon, despite appearing on the official poster, does not appear in the actual parade.