* Nickelodeon’s newest rising teen star, Victoria Justice, will perform “Freak the Freak Out,” an original song from her hit comedy Victorious, on the Build-A-Bear Workshop’s float.  On the series, Justice plays the musically-talented “Tori Vega” who unexpectedly finds herself navigating life as a student at an elite performing arts high school.  Currently in production on its second season, Victorious—a co-production with Nickelodeon and Sony Music—is created and exec-produced by TV hitmaker Dan Schneider (iCarly, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101).  Justice first joined Nickelodeon in 2005 when she was cast as a series regular on the network’s Emmy-nominated hit Zoey 101.  A triple threat, Justice acted, sang and danced in the 2009 Nickelodeon movie-musical Spectacular! and most recently, headlined her first-ever television movie, The Boy Who Cried Werewolf.

* Dora the Explorer is returning to the parade on a brand new float themed to the holiday special, Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure. Joining Dora will be three-time Grammy Award-winning artist India.Arie, who will perform the Emmy-nominated song, “Nochebuena.” The float will feature Dora and a 12-foot tall Christmas tree decorated with dazzling ornaments and very special gifts.  Dora and her friends will showcase their most recent adventure, where they teach their friend Swiper the true spirit of the holidays.

* Pop-culture icon and eternal optimist SpongeBob SquarePants will make his sixth appearance when he takes a special holiday trip to soak up the sights and sounds of the New York City. Based on the number-one animated kids’ show on TV, the SpongeBob balloon will absorb more than 16,200 cubic feet of helium to fly down the route.  Although it may appear square, the SpongeBob balloon isn’t square at all; it is actually a single chamber sphere, made intricately square-shaped by more than 600 internal tie-lines. Looking dapper as always, SpongeBob stands at 62-feet high, 38-feet wide and 28-feet long.

* The most successful kids’ action series returns with a bang when the Samurai Power Rangers descend upon the streets of New York. Utilizing their Samurai powers, which give them control over the elements of Fire, Water, Sky, Forest, and Earth, the Rangers will embark on their first journey together as they escort the Planet Earth balloon through the streets of Manhattan. The parade marks the first-ever U.S. appearance of the five Samurai Power Rangers as they get ready for the premiere of their new series, Power Rangers Samurai, which will air on Nickelodeon and Nicktoons in North America, premiering in early 2011.  After the Parade, fans can tune in to Nickelodeon for a special first look at the new series.

* In the fall of 2011, Nickelodeon will premiere Kung Fu Panda: The Series, based on DreamWorks Animation’s hit feature film, Kung Fu Panda, which has grossed more than $630 million at the worldwide box office. The new TV series will chronicle the further adventures of Po, who is aided by his mentor Shifu and the Furious Five: Tigress, Mantis, Crane, Monkey and Viper. At more than 16,000 cubic feet of helium, Po the Panda is truly a larger-than-life master of the ancient Chinese art of Kung Fu. Designed by the magicians at Macy's Parade Studio, Po was created with the help of more than half a mile of fabric and is covered in 17 gallons of paint. For his Parade debut, Po the Panda measures 42-feet tall, 46-feet long, and 34-feet wide, giving him the scale to take giant leaps down the route, poised to deliver his signature martial arts moves along the way. DreamWorks Animation plans to release Kung Fu Panda 2 in theaters on May 27, 2011.

About the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade