Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade first look: See Universal Orlando’s debut balloon marking 100-year milestone (exclusive)

Joey NolfiWed, October 28, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC

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Universal Orlando Resort debuts Earl the Squirrel balloon for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day ParadeCredit: Courtesy of Universal Orlando Resort (2)Key Points -

Entertainment Weekly has the exclusive reveal of the Universal Orlando Resort’s first-ever balloon at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Earl the Squirrel, an original character inspired by a real-life squirrel who caused mischief at the resort, will debut with inspiration from classic cartoons and Christmas Vacation.

The balloon will travel back to Orlando as part of the Universal Holidays parade, after marking a 100-year milestone for Macy’s and Universal.

The Universal Orlando Resort is celebrating the holiday season with — what else? — a really freaking big squirrel.

Instead of sloshing eggnog, the theme park destination is cracking nuts, chewing wires, and dancing with acorns to celebrate 100 years of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, as Universal will debut its first-ever balloon themed to its popular Earl the Squirrel character at the 2026 edition of the event.

“We’re going to bring the whole unit” from Orlando to New York City for the big day, Universal creative Lora Sauls exclusively tells Entertainment Weekly of Earl’s big moment, which includes an army of backup dancers, balloon handlers, and even “the cutest” dancing acorn swirling through the streets of Manhattan during the Nov. 26 NBC telecast.

The milestone hits close to home for parent company NBC full circle, 100 years after it debuted its first-ever balloon, modeled after Felix the Cat, at the inaugural Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927.

Universal Orlando Resort’s Earl the Squirrel balloon is heading to Macy’s Thanksgiving Day ParadeCredit: Courtesy of Universal Orlando Resort

“Earl has risen to the status of Universal Studios Florida’s Christmas icon. He started as a real, little squirrel in our Christmas tree who loved chewing on some blue lights, and it grew in the fandom,” Sauls says.

As the story goes, Universal’s team of creative technicians and artists discovered a mangled string of blue lights adorning a large Christmas tree display inside Universal Studios Florida. Upon fixing it, they returned the next day to find that the wires suffered the same fate. After installing cameras to catch what they thought was a human meddler, much to the team’s surprise, it was actually an irresistibly precious squirrel.

The critter was humanely rehomed, Sauls says, though his appearance led to an inside joke among Universal team members — so much so that, for years, they placed a small squirrel figurine inside the park’s tree to honor the little guy, which guests quickly noticed. Thus began the tradition of a yearly scavenger hunt to track down where Universal placed Earl inside the tree that year. Cut to 2021, when Earl had grown popular enough to warrant his own annual merch line and even a costumed character experience inside Universal Studios Florida.

Earl’s transition from realistic rodent to bubbly-eyed cartoon character followed a simple creative process, adds Rob Cametti, a visual design and retail creative at the Universal Orlando Resort.

“I said, ‘I need a squirrel,’” Cametti says with a smile, recalling the first time he tasked a sketch artist with devising a model that would eventually lead to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Balloon fans will see this year. “I gave him three references. One of the references, if you look at the hat that he wears, it’s a plaid hat with flaps. Cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation, that was one of the inspirations for his hat!”

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Cametti says that, of the numerous pop culture entities that live in Earl’s final form, classic “rubber hose cartoon” characters like Betty Boop also laid the foundation for what Earl is today.

Fast-forward to 2026, and the team partnered with Macy’s to bring to life the next phase in Earl’s evolution.

“The lore of the lights is really what we latched onto. How do we bring his trusty lightbulb with him and create a new balloon?” says Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade creative director Brendan Kennedy of the balloon that includes pieces heat-steamed together and hand-painted in its final form. “It all starts with a sketch, which gets 3D modeled. We do a little bit of flight testing to make sure it can fly well. We wanted to make sure we got the character just right, but also that he could fly perfectly!”

Earl the Squirrel mingles with guests at Universal Orlando ResortCredit: Courtesy of Universal Orlando Resort

And after the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year, Earl is off to Universal Studios Florida, where he’ll help headline the theme park’s popular holiday celebration that runs from Nov. 14-Jan. 3. Though the event begins in November, Earl won’t appear inside Universal Holiday Parade until after his bow at the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Until then, guests can browse new merch inside the park’s fan-favorite Holiday Tribute Store, meet Earl as a character at the resort, and more.

But, the question remains: Though he weathered his inaugural (and adorable) reign of havoc over the first Christmas tree he first terrorized at Universal Studios Florida, how will a balloon as big as Earl’s easily traverse the nearly 950 miles separating Orlando from Manhattan?

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“It’s helium. You just let it go, and you see what happens,” Kennedy says with a laugh. “He can fly!”

Clearly, whether it’s the holiday season or not, it’s all about the fantasy at Universal Orlando.

Earl the Squirrel’s balloon debuts Nov. 26 at the Macy’s 100th Thanksgiving Day Parade event in New York City, which will broadcast live at 8:30 a.m. ET/PT on NBC. Universal Holidays runs Nov. 14-Jan. 3 at the Universal Orlando Resort.

on Entertainment Weekly

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