Thumb Wars: The Phantom Cuticle (1999) (TV)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Steve Oedekerk

Writer:

Steve Oedekerk (written by)

Genre:

Short | Comedy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Every Hand Has A Thumb...

Plot:

In a sendoff of the original Star Wars, several fingers and thumbs are used to act out the roles of would-be heroes and villians as the forces of finger and thumb clash of an evil super-weapon. |

Plot Keywords:

Thumb | Captain | Smuggler | Hologram | Battle

Cast

Steve Oedekerk	...	Loke Groundrunner / Beboobeep / Unwise Council Member / The Puppet / Gabba the Butt / Big Toe & Yes Man / Aunt Gonnabiteit (voice)
Andrea Fears	...	Princess Bunhead (voice)
Ross Shafer	...	Hand Duet (voice) (as Ross Schaefer)
Rob Paulsen	...	Oobedoob Benubi / Thumbtrooper (voice)
Paul Greenberg	...	Prissypeo (voice)
Jim Jackman	...	Crunchy / Lieutenant (voice)
Mark DeCarlo	...	Black Helmet Man (voice)
Jim Hope	...	Commander Cuticle / Annoying Pilot / Effeminate Thumb / Instructor (voice)
David Floyd	...	Brave Pilot / Uncle Soondead / Fighter / Thumb Council Member (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Megan Cavanagh	...	Fighter Pilot #2 (voice)

Also Known As:

Thumb Wars (USA)

Runtime:

29 min | Japan:26 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Certification:

Germany:12 | UK:PG | USA:Not Rated

Company:

O Entertainment

Trivia:

The animation format used to animate thumbs was later used to animate Steve Oedekerk's tongue in Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (2002).

Quotes:

Puppet: I am a puppet.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Kureyon Shin-chan: Shin Wars (#2.1)" (2008)

Amusing

Thumb Wars is a nice, odd little parody on the now culturally mythical original Star Wars. The short interview/making of sequence following the filmette added to the enjoyment when you saw the number of people and the amount of effort which went into filming some thumbs (and one foot).

It's true that some of the jokes made are pretty much standard fare (Leah is Princess Bunhead - with cinnamon buns for hair, a Stormtrooper comments on Darth Vader's "cool" voice). However, the curious effect of faces superimposed on thumbs, some of the attention to detail and references to the original (the bar scene), and some of the just plain whacked out humour (the naked X-wing pilot) are what maintain the pace.

2 minutes longer and I think I would have begun to lose interest, but for something different and a good laugh Thumb Wars does the job. The preview for Thumb Tanic looked good too.