The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade made its annual return to New York City on Thursday, and parade balloon mainstay Snoopy was part of the action. This year, the beloved Peanuts character had a new career choice: astronaut. Following past years’ designs, Charlie Brown’s mischievous dog has apparently left his dreams of being a daredevil pilot or a court jester behind, and he even left his best friend, the tiny bird Woodstock, behind for his 2019 outing.
The beagle is now a space-trekking canine ready to take one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind. As shown in photos taken by onlookers and media who were on-hand for the event, Snoopy was decked out in an orange astronaut suit and floated through the Big Apple.
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The balloon was apparently created in-part by NASA, as their logo was on the left part of the pup’s chest. The government organization also hyped up the balloon’s presence via their social media accounts.
Fun fact: #AstronautSnoopy made his first debut in the #ThanksgivingDayParade in 1969. 🎈👨🚀✨ Working with @Snoopy for decades, we have a long history of partnership in our safety and human space flight awareness program. Take a look: https://t.co/1KSTkjfxap pic.twitter.com/J22FwisDGQ
— NASA (@NASA) November 28, 2019
Snoopy has been a member of the parade lineup dating back to 1969, so, as one would imagine, he has gained quite a few fans. The mainstay’s admirers chimed in with remarks about the balloon on Thursday and the days following.
“Spent Thanksgiving weekend one year in NYC. Fun but super crowded and crazy. Best balloon is Snoopy!” one fan wrote.
My highlight every year #MacysThanksgivingDayParade SNOOPY is the best love him #happythanksgivng pic.twitter.com/K4j2hn1UYs
— 🍂🍂 Rose Marie 🍁🍁 (@RoseMar33079791) November 28, 2019
“Family tradition on Thanksgiving watching the [Macy’s] parade. I was so happy to see the [Snoopy] balloon,” a second added. “New York do it best!”
A third fan wrote, ” my favorite balloon, as usual, was [Snoopy] dressed as an astronaut!”
A fourth replied to some images of the Peanuts character by writing, “Thanks for sharing the photos. Happy Thanksgiving and you are right… Snoopy is the best!”
Snoopy, created by Peanuts mastermind Charles M. Schulz, first debut in comic strips in 1950. he’s gone on to appear in every one of the properties’ TV and movie adaptations, including 1965’s A Charlie Brown Christmas and 2015’s The Peanuts Movie.
Photo Credit: Gotham/GC Images/Getty Images