Tim Burton designs an exceedingly Tim Burton-esque balloon for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Tim Burton has been asked to put his agreeably, cuddly gothic spin on yet another family-friendly property—this time the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, whose organizers asked the director to design a balloon according to his usual sensibilities. And since [INSERT JOHNNY DEPP JOKE], Burton went with an original creation, which he still makes sometimes, by sketching out the new character named “B. Boy,” pictured above. But wait, is it appropriately melancholy and Burton-y? Indeed it is: According to the New York Times, B. Boy “was created, Frankenstein’s monster-style, from the leftover balloons used in children’s parties at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Forbidden from playing with other children because of his jagged teeth and crazy-quilt stitching, B. retreated to a basement lair, where he obsesses over Albert Lamorisse’s film The Red Balloon and dreams that he, too, will be able to fly someday.” Pumping his balloon with even more hot nuance-gas, Burton added, “There’s always been something about balloons. You see them deflated and you see them floating. There’s something quite beautiful and tragic and sad and buoyant and happy, all at the same time.” Burton then trailed off, staring into the distance as a slow, sad calliope tune turned over and over in his head.