Posted in: NBC, Peacock, TV | Tagged: macy's thanksgiving day parade, super mario

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2025: New Mario Balloon Joining Lineup

Nintendo of America announced a new Mario balloon for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to honor the 40th anniversary of Super Mario Bros.

We're only about a month away from NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo airing/streaming the 99th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Let that sink in for a second. Earlier today, Nintendo of America and Macy's announced that a new Mario featured character balloon would make its debut on Thursday, November 27th, and they even released a 3D model rendering of the new Mario balloon. Set to honor the 40th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros. game, which first launched in Japan in 1985, the balloon was created by Macy's Parade Studio's team of artists in partnership with Nintendo of America. Clad in his classic blue overalls and signature red cap and striking a flying pose inspired by the game Super Mario Galaxy, Mario comes in at 51-feet and 2-inches long, 37-feet wide, and 43-feet and 8-inches tall.

"The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has long been a stage for the world's most beloved characters, and this year we're thrilled to partner with Nintendo to welcome a new Mario balloon to that tradition," shared Jordan Dabby, producer of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. "As Mario celebrates 40 years of inspiring players and families worldwide, his flight down the streets of Manhattan is both a historic milestone and a joyful celebration — one sure to have fans everywhere cheering 'Wahoo!' this Thanksgiving morning."

"Having Mario join this iconic holiday tradition is an incredible way to honor the 40th anniversary of Super Mario Bros.," added Devon Pritchard, EVP of Revenue, Marketing & Consumer Experience at Nintendo of America. "Since he first emerged from a Warp Pipe, Mario has embodied our goal of bringing smiles to faces all over the world. We are excited for Mario fans of all ages to see his new balloon's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade debut."

Over the summer, during Destination Disney, it was announced that the Buzz Lightyear balloon would be back in a very big way to represent the 30th anniversary of Pixar's first Toy Story. Here's a look at the announcement that went out back in August.

In 2024, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was the top show of the holiday season and delivered its biggest audience on record with 31.7 million total viewers across NBC and Peacock—that's an 11% increase compared to 2023. This makes 2024 the fourth year in a row that the parade was the most-watched entertainment show on linear. In addition, the 2024 parade was the top Spanish-language TV program in its timeslot on Telemundo for the third consecutive year. As for the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks, the live 2024 special drew 7.6 million viewers across all platforms – marking a three-year ratings high.

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