Thumbs! is a collective term for the

O Entertainment Steven Brent Oedekerk (born November 27, 1961) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with actor and comedian Jim Carrey and director Tom Shadyac (particular ...

short films created by

Steve Oedekerk Steven Brent Oedekerk (born November 27, 1961) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with actor and comedian Jim Carrey and director Tom Shadyac (particular ...

using "Thumbation" technology, a process which combines live-action

thumb The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...

s and

superimposition Superimposition is the placement of one thing over another, typically so that both are still evident. Graphics In graphics, superimposition is the placement of an image or video on top of an already-existing image or video, usually to add to t ...

of the

voice actors Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

' faces. The first short, ''

Thumb Wars ''Thumb Wars: The Phantom Cuticle'' is a 1999 short film directed by Steve Oedekerk. Using dressed up and coifed thumbs as puppets, Oedekerk created a parody of ''Star Wars'', with characters like Loke Groundrunner, Princess Bunhead, Oobee ...

'', was created as a television special and spawned the rest of the series. Each filmette is available on DVD, with exclusive extra footage on the ''Thumb Wars/Thumbtanic Thumb Double Feature.'' The entire series is available in a box set called ''All Thumbs,'' which does not include the ''Double Feature'' or ''The Thumbersons'' short. Most of the shorts have aired on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

, before the show or film being parodied air, such as ''

'' (for '' Star Wars: The Clone Wars'') and ''Bat Thumb'' (for airings of '' Batman and Robin''). ''Frankenthumb'' aired around Halloween 2008.

Filmettes

* '' Thumb Wars: The Phantom Cuticle'' (1999) (parody adaptation of ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'') * ''The Godthumb'' (2001) (parody adaptation of ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...

'') * ''Bat Thumb'' (2001) (parody adaptation of the ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

'' movie series) * ''Frankenthumb'' (2002) (parody adaptation of ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...

'') * ''The Blair Thumb'' (2002) (parody adaptation of ''

The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural horror film written, directed and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez (director), Eduardo Sánchez. It is a fictional story of three student filmmakers—Heather Donahue, Mic ...

'') * ''Thumbtanic'' (2002) (parody adaptation of ''Titanic'') * ''Thumb Debate '08!'' is a six-minute parody of the 2008 Obama vs McCain presidential debates. * ''Thumb Wars: The Thighs of Skyskipper'' is an upcoming spoof of '' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'', releasing possibly during 2022.

Shorts

* ''The Thumbersons,'' a small short, came with the ''

/Thumbtanic Thumb Double Feature.''

Collections

* "Thumb Wars/ Thumbtanic Thumb Double Feature" is the only double feature of Thumbs! available. It includes "

" and "Thumbtanic". It also comes with the exclusive short "The Thumbersons". In 2005, it was released for the

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

UMD Video The Universal Media Disc (UMD) is a discontinued optical disc medium developed by Sony for use on its PlayStation Portable handheld gaming and multimedia platform. It can hold up to 1.8 gigabytes of data and is capable of storing video games, ...

. * "All Thumbs!" is a boxed set containing "

", "Thumbtanic", "The Godthumb", "Bat Thumb", "Frankenthumb", and "Blair Thumb" on DVD. The short "The Thumbersons" was omitted. This is because the "Thumb Wars/ Thumbtanic Thumb Double Feature" wasn't included, rather two separate DVDs for the two filmettes.

Possible future filmettes

In a 2004 interview with Dale Whitehouse, spokesman of O Entertainment, he said that Oedekerk showed interest in making ''Superthumb'' (a parody of ''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

''), ''Spiderthumb'' (a parody of ''

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...

''), ''Jaws Thumb'' (a parody of ''

Jaws Jaws or Jaw may refer to: Anatomy * Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth ** Mandible, the lower jaw Arts, entertainment, and media * Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker'' * ...

''), ''Viva Thumb Vegas'' (a parody of ''

Viva Las Vegas ''Viva Las Vegas'' is a 1964 American musical film directed by George Sidney and starring Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret. The film is regarded by fans and film critics as one of Presley's best films, and it is noted for the on-screen chemistry bet ...

''), ''Thumbbusters'' (a parody of ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and ...

''), ''Catthumb'' (a parody of ''

Catwoman Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she ...

''), ''The Thumbtrix'' (a parody of ''

The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...

''), and ''Thumb America'' (a parody of ''

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

'').^{equest for citation/sup>

References

{{Steve Oedekerk

American comedy films
Puppet films
Short films directed by Steve Oedekerk}