[AaronLancs]

I was under the impression that most of the original batch were real, but most of the subsequent additions had the balloon digitally edited into scenes.

When you think about it, quite a few of them would actually have been impossible to create for real. If the wind carries the balloon out over St Michael’s Mount or the Needles, you’re in for a very wet landing.

Furthermore, I have just done a search on the BBC Motion Graphics Archive. Here is a selection of the information I gleamed from it.

Real Balloon
Canary Wharf
Eilean Donan Castle

CGI Balloon
Angel Of The North / Footballers
The Needles, Isle Of Wight
St. Michael's Mount
Sydney Olympic Games