January 1 - The Rose Parade

On this day, in 1890, the Valley Hunt Club staged the very first Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. Held annually every year since then (even during both World Wars), the Rose Parade has become a fixture on New Year’s Day for hundreds of millions of people around the world. Except, of course, for those occasions when the parade happens on January 2. When are those occasions, you might scratch your head and ask. Whenever the first falls on a Sunday. The organizers of the fourth parade didn’t want to disturb the horses tethered outside of church services, so they delayed for twenty-four hours, creating a tradition that continues to today.

Image courtesy of remembertherosebowl.com

The best part of the parade, in my opinion, is how beautiful and creative the floats are. Right from the beginning, the organizers wanted to celebrate the mild climate of their fair city and covered their horse drawn carriages with live roses and other flowers. Today, it’s mindboggling to me how far float designers have moved beyond flowers. Seeds, grasses, bark, skins, you name it, every conceivable part of a plant is used to evoke all kinds of surfaces on gorgeous, colorful and, quite often, whimsical scenes. If you can’t tell, I really like this parade.

Image courtesy of disneyhistoryinstitute.com

Disney has a long history with the Rose Parade. It all started at the 39^th Parade on January 1, 1938. The theme that year was Playland Fantasies. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had been triumphantly playing at the Carthay Circle Theatre for a week and a half and fit in perfectly. The live action model for Snow White, Marjorie Belcher, rode the float with the same costumed characters of the dwarfs that graced the film’s premiere.

In 1955, the 66^th parade featured a float based on attractions from Disneyland, even though the park was still several months away from opening. Helms Bakery sponsored the float which boasted over 7,000 pink roses. In addition to the float, the Firehouse Five Plus Two, a jazz group made up of studio employees including Ward Kimball and Frank Thomas (two of the Nine Old Men), joined in the procession.

Image courtesy of the official Disney Parks blog

Eleven years later, the 77^th Grand Marshal of the Rose Parade would be none other than Walt Disney himself. He proudly rode at the front of the parade with Mickey Mouse by his side. Interestingly, one of the spectators that year would be a young John Lasseter, future co-founder of Pixar, and another would be Pat Burke, one of the top future Imagineers.

In 1980, Disneyland was once again part of the parade when they presented a special pre-parade show celebrating the park’s 25^th Anniversary. As part of the festivities, the Firehouse Five Plus Two was enticed out of retirement to make an encore Rose Parade appearance.

In 2000, another Disney became Grand Marshal of the Rose Parade. This time it was Walt’s nephew, and longtime Disney Board member, Roy E. Disney.

Image courtesy of caltech.edu

For the 115^th Rose Parade in 2004, Disneyland Resort once again sponsored a float. This one was based on its newest attraction, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Rising 100 feet above the street, this float would be the tallest in parade history.

Mickey Mouse would serve as the 116^th Grand Marshal just a year later. Disneyland Resort’s 50^th anniversary advertising campaign would also kick off during the commercial breaks of the parade’s television coverage. The following year a float with recreations of the castles from each of Disney’s five magical theme parks from around the world was featured.

Disney would have a small presence in the 2007 parade. A representation of Disneyland’s monorail would be part of the City of Anaheim’s sesquicentennial float. Six years later, a float based on Disneyland Resort’s newest area, Cars Land, would ride down Colorado Boulevard.

Image courtesy of KPCC

And, finally, in 2016, the longest, most massive float of the parade that year consisted of three distinct parts: a Frozen castle followed by Sleeping Beauty’s Castle (decorated for Disneyland’s 60^th anniversary) with the Millennium Falcon bringing up the rear.

Year after year, the Tournament of Roses Parade (as it’s officially known) never fails to please, even in those years when it pours. And whenever Disney enters a float, it’s sure to be something spectacular. I, for one, look forward to all the collaborations between the two in the years to come.