1992 -2of6- MACY'S BALLOON DISASTERS at Mall of America - by Pete Wagner's Minne HA! HA! Magazine

Описание: Part 2 of 6 - "Minne HA! HA!" Magazine hired videographers and photographer to document the magazine's crew of volunteers who participated in the grand opening parade, which was conducted by Macy's of New York City, whose Thanksgiving Day Parade team instructed and led crews of local volunteers from various organizations and companies in inflating, sending aloft, navigating, bringing down, deflating and packing the balloons. It also shows them accidentally ripping holes in the giant balloon characters and having to nearly drag the poor things along the parade route.
This footage is lightly edited but shows every step of the process except for the initial unpacking of the gigantic balloons, which had been done by the Macy's team before we all arrived. We Minne HA! HA! volunteers who piloted the "Pink Panther" contingency collaborated with folks from MGM-Pathe' Communications, the infamous American filmmaking company from Los Angeles.
The most recognizable balloons at this event were Spiderman, Bart Simpson, Betty Boop and Woody Woodpecker. Marching bands from River Falls, Wisconsin and elsewhere were part of the fun. At least 500 people attended and cheered on the parade.
Minne HA! HA! Magazine did a special issue with a full color cartoon cover featuring an imaginary Kirby Puckett balloon (Puckett was a Minnesota Twins player who was extremely popular and had a nice big round butt which made for a fantastic balloon). The Mall of America was being widely referred to as "the mega-mall," which the satirical magazine took off on with the term "mega-mall, smegma-mall!"