Tuesday 1 November 2011

B. Boy & Le Ballon Rouge

"I've always had a fascination with balloons," stated Tim Burton. "To have the opportunity to design one for the Macy's Day Parade is a real honor. Looking through photographs of the balloons that have been part of the parade over the last 85 years was really inspiring." As for the new balloon, Mr. Burton said, "B. Boy looks forward to his flight through Manhattan on Thanksgiving Day."
Firmly framed in the artist's unique aesthetic, B. Boy, like all other inhabitants of the world of Tim Burton has an interesting story.
Born, or more accurately – constructed on the fourth of July in the basement of London's Great Ormond Street Hospital, B. Boy was stitched together from rejects of old birthday party balloons left over from the many children's parties that took place on the upper floors of the Hospital. With his pointed teeth and uneven stitches, B. was not allowed to play with the children at the hospital, because some feared he would scare them. With his spirit deflated, B. withdrew to his cramped basement home and into the world of his favorite film, Le Ballon Rouge. Watching it obsessively, B. hoped that one day he too would be able to fly above the city and bring joy to one small child. With the notion that some dreams come with strings attached, B.'s dream will finally come true on Thanksgiving Day as he soars in the famed Macy's Parade.

Submarine, Richard Ayoade