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Designing Derpy

Oct / Nov 2026
By Katie Brickner

This November marks the 100th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Have you ever wondered how your favorite characters, like this one from KPop Demon Hunters, become balloons floating above the streets?

Images courtesy of Macy’s, Inc

Derpy is a supernatural tiger from the hit film KPop Demon Hunters. Minhwa, a traditional Korean painting style, inspired his design.

1. Artists begin by developing the balloon’s form using digital drawing programs. The pose must accurately reflect the character’s personality. It also needs to have enough lift in the head and body to fly down the streets safely.


Images courtesy of Macy’s, Inc

2.  Designers 3-D print a model of the figure. Thin lines on the surface indicate where each of the 350 pieces of fabric will attach to create the final balloon.


Images courtesy of Macy’s, Inc

3.  Once all the pieces of fabric are attached, cold air fills the balloon. Then artists paint each detail by hand.


Images courtesy of Macy’s, Inc

4. The night before the parade, the balloons are transported into New York City, filled with helium, and secured in place with nets and sandbags.


Images courtesy of Macy’s, Inc

5. On Thanksgiving morning, the balloons take flight! Derpy requires 90 balloon handlers to make sure he glides through the city safely.


Fun Facts

  • Fifty artists, designers, and engineers worked together to create the Derpy balloon.
 
  • The team began working on Derpy 18 months before he took flight in November 2025.
 
  • The Derpy balloon is approximately 124 times larger than the scale model, above.
 
  • Macy’s Studio artisans have been creating balloons and floats for almost 100 years.
 
  • The parade travels along nearly 3 miles of streets, which need to be closed to traffic in New York City on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
 
  • All the balloons are designed and fabricated at Macy’s Studio in Moonachie, New Jersey.

 

A Parade of Kusama Polka Dots

2020 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon Love Flies Up to the Sky, 2020. ©Yayoi Kusama. Photo: Peter Kramer/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Peter Kramer/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Many of the balloons you’ll see in the parade are based on iconic pop culture characters like Derpy, Snoopy, and Spider-Man. But sometimes fine art finds its way into the lineup. In 2019, to celebrate her 90th birthday, Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama (yah-yoi koo-sah-mah) designed a balloon. Called Love Flies Up to the Sky, it features her signature polka dots.


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