Sunshine, big crowds greet New Year's Rose Parade

Spectators who claimed their spots for the Rose Parade hours before it began were rewarded Thursday with spangled dancers paying tribute to Broadway, a lush garden wedding flanked by sari-clad models representing India's Bollywood film industry and a giant robot with a surprise under his hat.

A 49-foot-tall mechanical man named Asimo tipped his top hat on a float sponsored by Honda Motor Co. The crowd was wowed when fireworks and streamers shot out of his headgear - a nod to this year's theme, "Hats Off to Entertainment."

"That was something," said Peggy Tesh, 82, who came to the parade with her family from North Carolina.

At one point, the towering robot snapped an overhead cable holding a street sign, but no one was injured, said police spokeswoman Janet Pope Gibbons.

The venerable Saturday movie matinee was represented in the entertainment theme by a swamp creature on a float with a dragon and a gorilla.

Pasadena police estimated that more than a million people descended on the city for the parade and the annual Rose Bowl game that follows it, plus various other Tournament of Roses festivities.

Temperatures started off in the low 50s in the early morning but heated up about 20 degrees during the parade, prompting 44 people to request medical help, double from last year, said Pasadena fire spokeswoman Lisa Derderian. Some were unconscious, with others suffering from dehydration and chest pains.

A number of marching band members were treated. "They're wearing heavy uniforms, using heavy equipment. They may not be acclimated to the conditions here," Derderian said.

An hour into the parade, the massive crowd tilted heads upward when the Air Force's B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flew overhead in honor of U.S. military stationed around the world.

The housing crisis didn't deter the National Association of Realtors, which entered its first float in the Rose Parade. It was one of 46 entries - some from major companies with sagging stock prices such as Honda and Macy's - in the floral extravaganza that has marched on through the Great Depression and world wars for 120 years.

The realtors' float - planned more than a year ago, before the flood of foreclosures and the credit crunch that has made mortgages hard to come by - was dubbed "Celebrating the Dream of Homeownership for 100 Years." It showcased a Victorian-style house covered with corn husks, coconut flakes, sesame seeds, roses and orchids.

That long-term planning also applied to some parade-watchers such as Gail and George Braun, who came from Pasadena, Md., to attend the parade and to pull for Penn State against USC in the Rose Bowl game later Thursday. The No. 5 USC Trojans went on to beat the sixth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions, 38-24.

"The stock market has impacted us, but we planned this back in March," George Braun said. "If it was planned last month, we might not be doing this."

"It's been a dream to come through here," Gail Braun said. "I just love the flowers."

For the second straight year, the irrigation firm Rain Bird won the prestigious Sweepstakes Trophy for most beautiful float. Its Safari-themed entry, "Entertaining Expedition," featured flowing water, a giant moving elephant and three giraffes made out of marigold petals, Spanish mosses and other materials.

The parade featured 21 marching bands and 18 equestrian units along the 5 1/2-mile route. This year's grand marshal was 82-year-old actress and recent "Dancing with the Stars" contestant Cloris Leachman.

Some floats featured other famous faces.

Cynthia Nixon, an Emmy-award winning actress from "Sex and the City" and a breast cancer survivor, was perched on the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer float "Hope Grows," which featured an elaborate garden scene with Vera Bradley handbags popping from the flowers.

Actor Dick Van Patten waved to crowds from a seat atop the float from his company, Natural Balance Pet Foods, which featured a giant dog made out of golden flax and white rice seed on a skateboard.

"That dog is skateboarding!" yelled 8-year-old Frida Isiordia of Los Angeles, pointing to one of two real bulldogs who took turns skating in circles on a built-in track on the float.

Police Lt. Randell Taylor said thousands of parade watchers had staked out viewing spots as early as Wednesday night.

Police arrested 42 people along the parade route, mostly for public intoxication. One man was arrested for throwing beer bottles into the crowd; he was subdued by bystanders until police arrested him for assault with a deadly weapon, Taylor said.

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Associated Press Writer John Rogers contributed to this story.