DETROIT – Penguins are known for being flightless birds that, with rare exceptions, live in the Southern Hemisphere.
Contrary to popular belief, they prefer temperate climates, rather than artic or sub-artic. Part of the reason why we think of that is because of the Chilly Willy cartoons, which saw its titular character struggle to stay warm while living in Alaska, where he would regularly interact with polar bears and walruses.
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This could be why when Chilly Willy took part in America’s Thanksgiving Parade in 1990, he too was confused and decided to do what we all dream of when overwhelmed: bail and run into the wilderness.
I’m sure the fact that he was a 40-foot-tall balloon flying in the air didn’t help his mental health. We’ve all had that nightmare before.
This originally was published in ClickOnDetroit’s Morning Report Newsletter. You can get Metro Detroit’s news, headlines, deep dives and more in your inbox every morning.
Chilly Willy -- legal name Chilliam William (probably) -- was traveling down Woodward Avenue when something in him snapped. He decided to take off and try to make it into Canada, where some of his cartoons took place. It was a safe space for the flying Chilliam.
Like Wile C. Coyote when he runs off a cliff, reality hit and the flightless bird stopped floating and started falling. Luckily, he landed in an environment his species excelled with: the water.
The U.S. Coast Guard located the rogue penguin in Lake St. Clair, on the Canadian side of the border. He had made it roughly 30 miles before he was taken into custody.
I do not judge the flying Chilliam. He’s a wild animal. It doesn’t matter how well-trained or domesticated he is, the overstimulation of being surrounded by thousands of people in an environment unlike anything he’s experienced pushed him over the edge.
While unlikely, maybe some of the penguins at the Detroit Zoo managed to look up and see one of their own grace the skies, and I think that’s kind of beautiful.
