Blaine Kern Sr., the flamboyant New Orleans float builder and visionary who, as "Mr. Mardi Gras," propelled the modernization and expansion of Carnival, died Thursday, according to his wife. He was 93.

Kern ushered in the era of the superkrewes and pioneered such parade razzle-dazzle as giant props, double-decker and multi-unit floats, splashy lighting and on-board animatronics. Kern Studios, which he founded, crafts more than a dozen prominent parades, including Endymion, Muses, Bacchus, Orpheus, Iris, Zulu, Hermes and Tucks.