Explore the wonderful world of special shapes as we reflect on the UK’s most intricate and loved hot air creations in all sorts of crazy designs. We challenged ourselves to list the top 25 special shape balloons ever created for the UK. How many will you remember?
The vast majority of these balloons were built for advertising purposes, commissioned by large companies and brands with huge marketing budgets before the days of online advertising.
Special shapes bring magic to any balloon festival and always take centre stage when they are flown or tethered, something we have witnessed firsthand with our collection of shapes at MJ Ballooning over the past few years.
Operating these giants of the sky each come with their own challenges, the main two being the weight of the envelope compared to a standard round balloon, increasing the time it takes to set up, inflate and pack away, and the complexities of how they fly.
Some designs are more aerodynamic than others. Wide, box shaped balloons often don’t climb or descend as quickly and changing wind speeds and directions can hit tall character, can and jar shapes at different heights, which the pilot is always taking into consideration. The standard parachute isn’t suitable for the very complex designs so are fitted with a rip panel deflation system, which is carefully secured in placed with two locks.
Right, let’s get started…
25. IKEA
At number 25 we begin with IKEA! Who doesn’t love this one? Built by Bristol’s very own Cameron Balloons in 2004 for their title sponsorship year of the Bristol Balloon Fiesta, the heart in a box was an interesting and effective marketing tool to advertise the city’s store.
24. Philips Light Bulb
This one really lights up the sky, quite literally! The idea of creating a light bulb special shape for Philips began in the mid-90s. It took centre stage during night glows, fitted with lights shining into the bulb part of the envelope whilst the bottom half was lit by the burner. To keep the realistic light bulb shape the mouth is extremely small and is a challenge to handle when tethering.
More info on "An Enlightening Philips Balloon Experience"
23. Palletways Dragon
Dragon power! The Palletways dragon featuring Slick, the big friendly dragon, first took to the UK skies in 2010 and made countless appearance all over the country for the next 6 seasons. A Lindstrand creation, Slick was operated by Lindstrand Media and even flew across the English Channel.
22. Bic Chick
Dreamt up to promote Bic soft feel pens was this loveable Bic chick! Now, clearly building a balloon in the shape of a pen itself wouldn’t be the best idea, as no volume and no lift. Enter, the Bic chick with its long yellow feathers and recognisable smile.
More info on "A Cheeky Chic Bic Chick!"
21. RAC Van
Just imagine how many tools you could fit into the back of this breakdown van! From the heyday of shape balloons in the UK, the RAC van first took to the skies in 1999.
20. Tesco Trolley
This giant shopping trolley for Tesco was a Cameron Balloons creation, partly built using the design work from a similar trolley that had been made for Canada and funded by the brands that had artwork printed all over the balloon. Notice the detail of the boy holding the bottle of sunny delight!
You can read blog post “Tesco Trolley: Sweet Supermarket Sweep” for more info and how the balloon was unveiled to Tesco.
19. FA Cup
The football association challenge cup balloon was built in 2000, one of the last Flying Pictures special shapes and what a whopper! The pilot and passengers had a very restricted view when flying due to the overhang of the cup.
18. Babybel
The Babybel balloon came to life and arrived on the UK circuit in 1998. Although it would have been acceptable to create a replica of the product Babybel, albeit a little boring, some thinking outside the box, or the wrapper in this case, was done. A character known as Mr Cool was created, with shades, peeling open the wax wrapper to cheesy goodness!
More info on "Babybel Mr. Cool - Sweet dreams are made of cheese"
17. Monster
Created to advertise job website monster.com, many technical difficulties had to be overcome to make this monster airworthy, the main issue being the open mouth that cut into the shape of the envelope. The load tapes had to exit and then re enter at the top to keep its structure and keep “Trump” faithful to the character monster.com had sent across to the design team. The end result is pretty spectacular!
More info on "An over inflated Monster called Trump!"
16. Jaguar Car
At number 17 is the Jaguar XK8. Unlike many of the other special shapes in this blog, the Jaguar car was flown and operated by a small group of pilots rather than one operator. It continued to make appearances across Europe until around 2012 and is one of our all-time favourites.
15. Churchill Dog
Ohhh yes! We can’t be the only one who remembers those adverts? Next up is this loveable English bulldog made to promote insurance company Churchill. A regular attendee of the Bristol Balloon Fiesta from 2004.
14. Mr Peanut
A retro 80s classic, Mr peanut! Snack food company Planters commissioned G-PNUT in 1980, followed by G-NUTS a year later. Two further American Aerostar balloons, let’s face it, that aren’t quite as good, have also since been made. The Mr Peanut balloons are enjoyed by all when inflated even after over 40 years!
13. George White Superbike
The superbike is one of the largest hot air balloons of all-time, sponsored by motorcycle dealer group George White and built by Lindstrand in 2010. Weighing half a ton, this balloon really is a superb piece of engineering and visually stunning for spectators young and old. Forget the gym, crewing on this balloon is a workout of its own!
12. Chubb Fire Extinguisher
People love all the wacky shapes you might see flying at a balloon festival and it doesn’t get much more random than this, yes, a giant fire extinguisher. But in the world of ballooning, it’s of course completely normal! Since 1990 Chubb have owned 3 fire extinguisher shapes, the latest of which, G-BZJA, is still in flyable condition.
11. Michelin Man
Tyre manufacturer Michelin launched a marketing campaign in 1997 with 3 huge character balloons in the shape of their light-hearted and jolly mascot, the Michelin Man, Bibendum, a cheerful figure made from tyres. Round envelopes were also part of the fleet for when conditions didn’t play ball for the big shapes.
All 3 were test inflated on the same morning. The team had to carefully position them for the camera unexpectedly due to one of the Bibendum’s arms facing entirely the wrong way!
Now we're getting to the real top-notch favourites. Top 10...
10. Pete the Pylon
The star of National Power’s impressive fleet of balloons during the mid-90s was Pete the Pylon complete with snazzy bow tie and shoes. A regular at all the big UK events at the time.
9. Bertie Bassett
We really weren’t kidding about this blog bringing you all sorts... Bertie Bassett made from liquorice all sorts sweets was turned into hot air balloon form in 1997 by Cameron Balloons. A second design followed in 2001 still featuring the black cane but with his left arm waving. What a classic!
8. Thomas the Tank Engine
Another Cameron’s creation, this time in the shape of Thomas the Tank Engine from 1998. You would need a lot of coal to power this giant steam train! Thomas weighs a massive 366kg!
7. Lurpak 'Douglas'
Say hello to Douglas the Lurpak butter man! This is one of the heaviest and most complex UK shapes. In Douglas’ flying days it could only be flown by solo pilot or 1 passenger due to its sheer weight and maximum take off weight being so limited.
6. George Bear
Follow the bear… welcome George the Hoffmeister Bear, an often overlooked shape from 1986 but undoubtedly a UK classic. He was one of the first tall character special shapes and made many a flight across Bristol during the annual fiesta.
5. Caramel Bunny
This loveable bunny holding a bar of Cadbury’s caramel chocolate is without doubt one of the greatest UK shapes. Flying across the Shropshire countryside was the bunny’s first flight taking off from Telford. Cadbury’s entire workforce at the Bourneville factory downed tools to come and see the surprise inflation of her during one lunch time in 1993 and over the next few seasons was equally loved by the public across the country.
More info on “Caramel Bunny: A Big Beautiful Sweet Balloon”
4. Sonic the Hedgehog
Everyone loves Sonic and he just had to make it into the top 5! He first arrived on the scene in 1993 alongside the caramel bunny and finished commercial operations 5 years later. Did you know the eyes were moved after its first public appearance at the Icicle Balloon Meet? You can still vaguely see the outline today of where they used to be!
More info on "Sonic the Hedgehog: Big and blue and flying too!"
3. Rupert Bear
Children’s comic strip character Rupert Bear first appeared in the Daily Express newspaper in 1920. As hot air ballooning was really ‘taking off’ in the early 90s with many brands choosing a balloon to advertise their products, the Rupert Bear special shape was created in 1991. Kids would often be heard shouting “wake up, Rupert”, encouraged by event commentators, as this magnificent 148ft high balloon came to life and stood tall above everyone. 1,600 hours was the build time!
2. Action Man
At number 2 is superhero Action Man, the greatest hero of them all! Action Man is one of the most stunning and complex special shape balloons ever to grace the UK skies, built by the expert team at Cameron Balloons in 1997. As impressive as he is, flying and tethering him comes with lots of hard work with the envelope weight coming in at 358kg. Does anyone remember the orange smoke on take off?!
More info on "Action Man Balloon - A Gripping Hand-Made Tale!"
Drum roll! ......
1. Scottish Piper
*Bagpipes playing* At the top number 1 spot is Pipy, the Scottish Piper! An incredible shape built purely for fun back in 1997 and a regular at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta and Switzerland’s Chateau d’Oex. Check out the detail from the bagpipes to the Red Fraser tartan on his kilt, owner Muir’s own family tartan.
And just like that, we've reached the end!
An article that may also interest you is “Anatomy of a Special Shape”, which is one of many shape blogs written by VABC creative director Mark Lockwood on the website, many highlighted above.
We hope you enjoyed this article on our top 25 UK special shape balloons. Do you agree with the top 10, would you change some of our choices? Let us know!
Thanks to Dan at Ballooning Pictures UK for around half of the images contained in this blog. The other half are taken by MJ Ballooning.
