places in New Mexico

New Mexico's 2010 Tournament of Roses® Parade Features Balloons,
Chuck Jones' Pepé Le Pew

main lineupAcademy-Award®-winning Pepé Le Pew and Penelope Pussycat, entertainers of the young and the young at heart for more than 60 years, will take to the southern California skies aboard one of the Land of Enchantment's most iconic images when New Mexico’s float - "Enchantment is in the Air" - travels Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena, California January 1 in the 2010 Tournament of Roses® Parade.

The float design was unveiled on October 29, 2009 at a reception at the Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon Museum - a fitting location considering New Mexico is America’s premier ballooning capital; and Pepé Le Pew and Penelope Pussycat were created by the late cartoonist Chuck Jones. Even with his passing, Chuck’s ties to New Mexico remain strong - one of the three Chuck Jones Galleries is located near the Santa Fe Plaza.

The parade begins at 9 a.m. Mountain Time on New Year’s Day.

This is the fourth time in the past five years that New Mexico will be represented by a float in the Tournament of Roses® Parade, and it follows on the heels of last year’s float, "Hats Off To New Mexico – Beep Beep," starring Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner, which won the Bob Hope Humor ("most comical and amusing"). The 2008 float, featuring Roswell aliens and Spaceport America, was also honored, as winner of the as Grand Marshal’s Trophy "for excellence in creative concept and design." It is one of the top three awards given each year.

"The response the state has received from our appearances in the previous Tournament of Roses® Parades and the media efforts we sponsored primarily targeting the Southern California travel market have been tremendous," Secretary Cerletti said. "This is an incredibly effective way to reach potential visitors to New Mexico from all around the country and all over the world."

Nearly 40 million Americans in 16.5 million households tuned in to watch the parade on nine national and international television networks each year. The Parade is also broadcast live in 150 countries and territories worldwide. Other media-oriented events promoting New Mexico in Southern California are also being planned.

"Fanciful balloons - marvelous, mysterious, colorful balloons - evoke all of the wonder and fun of childhood’s simplest joys," Cerletti added. "Those children, now adults, can relive those magical days of youth in New Mexico. Whether traveling a winding mountain road or floating high above over cities, villages or the wide open plains in a hot-air balloon, visitors to New Mexico are ‘A Cut Above the Rest’."

The love-struck French skunk Pepé Le Pew is seeking "l’amour" as he yet again is in romantic pursuit to seduce Penelope Pussycat with amorous gifts of red roses and a heart-shaped box of chocolates.  In her attempt to escape the ever-persistent Pepé, Penelope dangles precariously from the gondola of a swaying hot-air balloon.  Pepé turns from side-to-side as he offers tokens of his affections. 

The picturesque landscapes of New Mexico are comically depicted in animation art form from the snow-capped trees of the majestic mountains, through the teetering rock formations on down to the colorful desert floor bursting alive with blooming yuccas.

Industry sponsors taking advantage of this unique marketing opportunity include the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Town of Taos, the City of Gallup/Red Rock Balloon Rally, Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino, New Mexico State Parks and El Pinto Foods. In addition to other southern California marketing efforts in which the Tourism Department will undertake, the sponsors will be prominently featured on the float.

Be sure to watch the Rose Parade on one of these channels. Check you local listings for times.

KTLA 5 / the CW
ABC
NBC
HGTV
Univision 34 Los Angeles
Travel Channel
RFD-TV
Sky Link TV
Hallmark Channel

For more information on the New Mexico Tourism Department's involvement with the Rose Parade and to see past year's floats click here.