Who lives in a pineapple under the sea, except when he’s floating in the sky high above New York City?

That’d be this 44-feet-tall, 41-feet-long, 34-feet-wide SpongeBob SquarePants balloon, which will make its debut at the 87th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Nov. 28. Nine years after SpongeBob first appeared at the parade, the flying sea-dweller will enjoy a new holiday-themed look — though his fundamental SpongeBob-iness remains intact.

“It’s not very often that the term ‘square and ‘balloon’ are used together, but for nearly a decade the SpongeBob SquarePants balloon has been one of the many highlights of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,” said Amy Kule, Executive Producer of the yearly special, in a statement. “With his animated persona and super-sized Santa hat, this second iteration of this irascible character will float down the Parade route to the continued delight of the millions of fans lining the streets of New York and the many millions more watching on television across the country. This Thanksgiving, SpongeBob once again takes his rightful position squarely in the sky.”

In 2004, the first-ever SpongeBob SquarePants Balloon made its inaugural appearance in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to the delight of kids and adults alike. Based on the most-watched animated kids' show on TV, this year's newest SpongeBob balloon will stand at 44-feet tall, 41-feet long and 34-feet wide as it struts down New York's most famous parade route.

Since its launch in July 1999, SpongeBob SquarePants has emerged as a pop culture phenomenon.  The series has been the most-watched animated program with kids 2-11 for more than 12 consecutive years, and over the past several years, it has averaged more than 100,000,000 total viewers every quarter across all Nickelodeon networks.  As the most widely distributed property in Viacom history, SpongeBob is seen in over 170 countries and translated in more than 35 languages. The character-driven cartoon chronicles the nautical and sometimes nonsensical adventures of SpongeBob, an incurable optimist and earnest sea sponge, and his undersea friends.

Source: Nickelodeon