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Underdog is the main protagonist of the namesake television series, The Underdog Show, created by Buck Biggers, Chet Stover, and Joe Harris. The series aired on NBC for two seasons between 1964 and 1966 and later on CBS for one season from 1966 through 1967. One of the earliest Saturday morning cartoons, the show was created by Total Television under the primary sponsorship of General Mills.

This daring superhero dog is normally a humble and lovable fellow named Shoeshine Boy. But he transforms into his heroic alter ego whenever his love interest, Sweet Polly Purebred, has been victimized; Underdog generally must foil the schemes of various villains, such as Simon Bar Sinister or Riff Raff, to save her. All of Underdog’s dialogue in the show, with few exceptions, is in rhyming couplets, with a prime example being his signature catchphrase: “There’s no need to fear, Underdog is here!”

History with the Macy's Parade[]

Underdog made his Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade debut in 1965, taking to the skies of New York City as a giant helium balloon. The idea of including Underdog in the Parade began as NBC (who holds the Parade’s official broadcast rights) was also the network that broadcast episodes of The Underdog Show; the canine superhero was high on Macy’s list of potential character balloons.[1]

Discussions between Macy’s and Total Television occurred in the spring of 1965. Once talks concluded, Joe Harris conceived the balloon’s design, featuring Underdog with his arms outstretched in a flying pose.[1] Harris purposefully designed the balloon to fly in a vertical position, hoping that the balloon would appear on screen longer.[2] Engineers at the head office of Goodyear's Akron headquarters drafted blueprints utilizing these conceptual drawings and a model sheet of Underdog provided by Harris. The blueprints were completed by late June following final touches from engineer Sid Smith.[1]

The Underdog balloon officially began production on July 29 at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s facility in Rockmart, Georgia.[1] Over two months, the craftspeople of Goodyear utilized 700 yards of nylon fabric and employed 75 gallons of paint to construct the colossal canine.[3][4] The finished Underdog balloon measured 63 feet, six inches long, 34 feet, nine inches wide, and 35 feet tall. Helping “walk the dog” were 30 of New York’s best dog walkers and 9,600 cubic feet of helium.[1]

The balloon took its first official test flight on October 11 at Goodyear’s Wingfoot Lake Airship Hangar in Akron, Ohio. Footage of the test flight was filmed and later distributed to news agencies that would publicize the balloon’s debut.[1]

Later that November, Underdog made his official Parade debut as the centerpiece of the first-ever balloon-float combo in parade history. The Underdog Float was the second largest in the lineup that year,[5] only topped by the three-ring Circus float.[6] The elaborate stage (designed by Total Television) showcased an original story written especially for the Parade, featuring taped dialogue of the show’s characters.[5]

Sweet Polly Purebred was held captive in the chains of a medieval castle as Simon Bar Sinister lurked below in his evil laboratory, clutching an atomic gun. With hopes of keeping Sweet Polly for his own, Bar Sinister shouted, “I shall wipe out the entire Parade!” pointing the smoke-spewing ray gun left and right. “No, no!” cried Polly in desperation. Suddenly, a looming figure darkened the skies above.

“It’s a plane! It’s a boid! It’s a frog!” Bar Sinister yelled. “It’s not a plane! It’s not a boid! It’s not a frog! It’s just little old me!” the soaring figure replied, revealing itself as the colossal Underdog balloon. As the Parade—and Polly—were saved, she cooed, “Oh, Underdog, you saved us!”

Immediately following the Parade, NBC presented a four-part episode of The Underdog Show, titled “Simon Says..No Thanksgiving.” A promotional 45 RPM record of the episode, titled How Underdog Saved the Thanksgiving Day Parade for this release, was also produced and included in the press kit for the 1965 Parade.[7][1]

The marvelous mutt proved a popular addition to the lineup and was heralded as the “top dog” of the Parade by newspapers the following day.[8]

The Underdog unit returned to the 1966 Parade lineup to much fanfare. Though the float was retired after this appearance, the Underdog balloon continued to fly in the Parade and soon became a mainstay.

Throughout Underdog’s long career as a Macy’s Parade balloon, there were only two instances in which the balloon failed to reach Herald Square. The first came in 1971 when winds and rain pelted Manhattan during the week of Thanksgiving. The inclement weather left Goodyear workers unable to inflate or fly the iconic helium balloons; Underdog, the final balloon in the lineup, was one of the seven balloons left uninflated.[9]

The second occasion occurred during the 1975 Parade, when wind and rain caused issues with flying the balloons. Underdog experienced injuries related to a deflated right ear and hand[10] before crashing into a lamp post in Times Square and losing his right ear and helium in his forehead, necessitating the balloon’s removal.[11] Following the incident, the balloon underwent a month-long repair by Goodyear engineers.[9] Underdog returned to the 1976 Parade lineup, but suffered a deflated left hand after colliding with a pole near Central Park.[12]

140992689-1417054315

Underdog soars through Manhattan with his new coat of paint in 1983. (Photo: NBC)

Underdog received a fresh coat of paint for his 1981 Parade appearance thanks to Kemp Balloons, Inc. of Baltimore, Maryland, who had taken over the fabrication of balloons for the Macy’s Parade from Goodyear.

In 1984, the high-flying hero made his final Macy’s Parade appearance after nearly 20 years of service; this would not be the balloon’s last public appearance, however, as Underdog was later shipped to Atlanta, Georgia, to appear in the 1985 Macy’s-Egleston Christmas Parade, flying alongside Linus the Lionhearted and Donald Duck.[13] During this appearance, the balloon’s right arm was punctured and deflated.[14]

After retiring the Underdog balloon, organizers stowed it away at the Macy's Parade Studio in Hoboken, New Jersey. The balloon underwent an inflation test in 1991 to see if it, alongside many of its other Goodyear contemporaries, could fly for the Parade’s 65th anniversary celebrations; Underdog was among those deemed ineligible for flight—the balloon could not hold helium due to decomposing fabric and weakened seams.[1][9]

Ultimately, parade organizers decided to discard the Underdog balloon in 2005.[15] A swatch of the balloon’s chest was saved, framed, and hung in Macy’s Annual Events office,[1] and later appeared during the Macy’s Parade on Parade Tour.[16]

Trivia[]

  • Underdog is perhaps one of the most famous balloons to appear in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and has consequently made several media appearances and cameos.
    • In November 1966, the balloon appeared on the cover of The New Yorker and TV Magazine.
    • In 1966, the Underdog balloon was one of several represented via stock footage in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode “The Jingle Bell Affair.”
    • The Underdog balloon made a cameo appearance in the “Helium Shootout” scene of the 1984 Woody Allen film, Broadway Danny Rose. It later appeared in a scene featuring the 1982 Parade.
    • In 1994, the first Thanksgiving-themed episode of the NBC sitcom Friends, titled “The One Where Underdog Got Away,” centered around the accidental release of the Underdog balloon. The escaped balloon caused everyone to go onto the roof to watch, locking them out of the apartment.
    • In 2008, a CGI ad for Coca-Cola that aired during the Super Bowl XLII featured a replica of the Underdog balloon. Titled It’s Mine!, the short features Underdog battling a balloon version of Stewie Griffin from Family Guy (which will not be a balloon) for a Coca-Cola bottle balloon across New York City. It ends with the Charlie Brown balloon triumphantly capturing the Coca-Cola balloon.
  • The Underdog Float appeared in the 1965 and 1966 Macy’s Christmas Parade in White Plains. Lee Bowman, star of stage and screen, rode on the float during the latter year.[17]
  • During the 1966 Parade, the float temporarily followed the balloon instead of its intended position preceding it.
  • A costumed version of Underdog took to the streets of Manhattan during the 1980 Parade.
  • In 1984, the Underdog balloon (alongside Olive Oyl) was sent to Raven Aerostar headquarters in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as the company had taken over the Macy’s Parade balloon-making business. Raven engineers studied the two balloons to observe the ins and outs of the iconic inflatables.[18]
  • Underdog appeared as a costumed character on Macy's Toon Balloon-Abaration! float in 2001, celebrating the Parade’s 75th anniversary.
  • Underdog is the favorite balloon of Robert M. Grippo, author of the 2004 book, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and host of The Big Parade History Project fan page on Facebook.

See also[]

References[]

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