Thanksgiving Day Loves a Parade . . . and Labubus!

Hundreds of thousands of plucky pilgrims came out for the 99th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade on Nov. 24, to see those toothy Labubus among the usual assortment of happy balloons, floats, marching bands, and celebrities. Hizzoner Eric Adams, wearing a For.NYC ball cap, was present for what is almost certainly the last parade of his mayoralty.

One was tempted to write B-list celebrities, but that’s neither fair nor accurate, for Labubu is straight A-list, A+ even, with Derpy Tiger not far behind.

Labubu? Derpy? Who? What? While some veteran parade watchers were wondering why Busta Rhymes—a genuinely great rapper at his peak—was now lip-syncing, poorly, on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles float, others had a whole new field of inquiry to deal with: Who are these characters and what are they doing in our historic parade where Smokey Bear, and Snoopy in a changing array of outfits, have long delighted the crowds. Don’t worry: The standard-bearers made their traditional appearance along with Santa Claus in the final float, kicking off the official start of the holiday shopping season.

For those who don’t have a grade-school child in the house, Labubu is a super-popular line of plush dolls created by Hong Kong illustrator Kasing Lung and look something like a cross between a troll or hobbit, a bunny rabbit, and a Tooth Gremlin. While broadly cute, Labubus, which come in a range of colors and fur qualities, have an edgy quality to them as well. Because Labubus have a built-in lanyard ring between their ears, kids often affix them to their school knapsacks. Stand outside your nearest elementary school and see for yourself.

Officially, Labubus are officially made only by the Beijing, China-based Pop Mart company, but they have been widely bootlegged also, so if you ever see a “deal” on Labubus on Canal Street, know they’re almost certainly as fake as any Gucci, Apple, or Rolex there.

Derpy Tiger—“Derpy” for short—is a bright blue cat with sharp teeth, black and white stripes, and sunburst eyes with piercing black eyeballs. Derpy comes from the Far East also, specifically KPop Demon Hunters, the smash animated musical film released in June. Though a detailed analysis of the KPop Demon Hunters phenomenon is outside the responsibility of a parade reporter, suffice it to say the movie engages kids and adults alike on numerous levels, from fun music to exciting adventure to alleged social allegory.

Asked about the appeal of Derpy, an 8-year-old Brooklyn girl replied, “He’s lovable. He delivers messages between Rumi and Jinu. And he’s nice because he keeps trying to turn up the flowerpot he knocked over. He can travel between the human and demon worlds.”

At the moment, kids seem unable to get enough of KPop Demon Hunters, though like Qin Shi Huang’s Terracotta Army, and more recently, the Kiss Army phenomenon of the 1970s, this too shall (likely) pass.

Weather for the parade was pretty decent, with temperatures in the pleasant 40s in the sun, though things could get a little bone-chilling in the shade. Pre-parade fears of heavy winds proved unfounded, and all the balloons ascended, and were handled on the parade route, without apparent incident, although as a precaution they were flying a little lower than usual.

Security for the event was expectedly robust though all the police this reporter encountered in the Herald Square area, including uniformed detectives, were exceptionally pleasant and polite, which isn’t easy when a ceaseless stream of people is trying to get through or ask directions. Among the latter group was a young, athletic-looking woman who told an officer she was a performer trying to get back to her hotel across Sixth Avenue where she was staying. There was no simple answer, even for an empathetic cop, and Macy’s own security and event managers seemed more consumed with shooing away people they deemed improperly credentialed than helping out one of their own people.

Besides Labubu and Derpy, some parade character highlights were Buzz Lightyear, Snoopy, Marshall from Paw Patrol, Pac-Man, and characters from Shrek—and this reporter’s favorite, the Wondrous World of Wildlife float from the Bronx Zoo, with a giant rocking giraffe on a cart following—like a huge child’s rocking horse, except it’s a giraffe.

Among the marching bands, phalanxes from Temple University, University of North Alabama, and especially Alcorn State, an HBCU school near Vicksburg, Miss. The latter stood out, its dancers in gold; its musicians in purple, white, and gold with white plumes; and a band director exhorting “Gotta keep movin’! Gotta keep movin’!”

You tell ‘em, maestro—and welcome to New York.