The Search for Labubu
- Lois Weiss
- 22 hours ago
- 4 min read
November 26, 2015
By Lois Weiss
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade can be a chilly but wonderful day for families but the day before the parade is filled with its own magic.
That Wednesday, Macy’s elves lay out all the balloons around the Museum of Natural History and begin adding helium at the same time the floats are lined up along Central Park West.
The inflation event has become an annual "thing," especially since it gets dark after 4 p.m. As the day goes on, the floats get plumper so throngs line up to be herded around the museum to oooh and aww snapping away with their cellphones.
This year, the new floats included the worldwide sensation, Pop Mart’s ugly Labubu doll. It was, however, unclear if Labubu was a balloon or a float and despite asking many elves who pointed in various directions, this intrepid reporter circled the very long museum blocks twice in search of the ugly creature, but to no avail.
It was only when these feet were ready to give up and the skies began to let loose with a cold drizzle that two of Macy’s girlish elves explained the doll was actually a balloon ON a float with her friends and was not yet inflated.
Deflated but not deterred, we walked to Central Park West once again and finally found the parent company, Pop Mart’s float, “Friendsgiving in Pop City,” and the piles of rubber on top that would be inflated right before the parade the next day.
Brown Labubu and her pink furry friend, Mokoko, along with their sculpted Styrofoam buddies, SkullPanda, Peach Riot, Dimoo, Duckoo and Molly would finally make an appearance in the parade itself.
Pop Mart, is like the Disney of China and even has a theme park in Bejing. It has already signed for two stores in Manhattan – one in Times Square and another on prime Fifth Avenue near Rockefeller Center, while a cartoon film with many of the friends is soon to come our way.
Before we searched for Labubu, however, it was time for a security briefing from Mayor Eric Adams, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, along with a bevy of other police brass, commissioners and Macy’s parade design chief, Will Coss.
For the past two years, Palestinian protestors have breached and stopped the parade but with incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani trying to act like an adult, we figured it was unlikely his troops would disrupt the beloved event. Commissioner Tisch said they were prepared for many eventualities and thankfully, the parade was not disrupted.
Tisch, dressed in a grey dress and matching tall boots, was firm in her briefing that there would be plenty of security -- both seen and unseen. Drones would also be used and one was even hovering high over the briefing that took place in the middle of West 81st Street by Columbus Avenue as inflation viewers strolled by on the sidewalk that was corralled by low security fencing.
The two and a half mile parade route would feature 8,000 marchers, 42 balloons and 28 floats was to have a robust police presence, including 10,000 officers, helicopters, drones and 14,000 metal barricades.
Mayor Adams touched on the horrible shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C. earlier that day and said both Commissioner Tisch and Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner were closely monitoring the situation.
“I'm looking forward to being out tomorrow with so many men and women and children and families,” he said, later adding, “The Macy's Thanksgiving parade marks the official start of our holiday season, and it plays a major impact on the economics of the city.”
Tisch emphasized, “There is no greater force multiplier than a responsive and an engaged public. So we ask everyone to...stay alert.”
Coss also highlighted the Macy's parade's 99-year history and its cultural significance. “There are over 5000 volunteers, 34 balloons, 28 floats, more than 700 clowns, our favorites, 11 marching bands, nine performance groups and appearances by the biggest stars in pop culture,” he said. “As we look forward to our parades -- the 100th will march in 2026 -- we celebrate togetherness, joy and this event as an enduring gift for our city and for our nation.”
Then it was time to walk and explore the balloons that were now super plump.
Although essentially encased in a web to keep him tethered to Planet Earth, a very long Spiderman stretched out his fingers to throw a web.
Buzz Lightyear turned up without a helmet, Mario made his first appearance, a Pac-man was new along with Shrek’s Onion Carriage and Derpy Tiger from KPop Demon Hunters.
Returning favorites included Sponge Bob Squarepants, Pikachu, Snoopy, Bluey, Minnie Mouse and Dora.
Walking under and around them was quite a treat and we carefully navigated the ropes that kept them from floating away into the night.
The floats lined up on Central Park West were also quite large and promoted everything from Disney Cruises to Hallmark cards and included a truly ugly scary Stranger Things monster.
As the skies opened up with a cold hard rain the crowds dispersed leaving the parade and attendant elves in waiting for the next day's parade.
