Kung Pow! Enter The Fist written, produced, directed by, and starring Steve Oedekerk is one of the funniest films to ever be made. Steve has had quite an impressive career over the years as a writer, producer, director… and the odd acting role. Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, The Nutty Professor, Patch Adams, Bruce Almighty, and so on. However, I discovered Steve by something else, before I watched and adored Kung Pow. I discovered Steve Oedekerk via his (and other) thumbs.

From Steve Oedekerk’s own production studio, O Entertainment came several short, parody movies (filmettes) based on popular IPs where all the characters were played by thumbs. Mixing real-world sets, thumbs, animation, and more thumbs. Coupled with Steve’s off-the-wall (and often) completely irrelevant humour, Steve Oedekerk’s “Thumbation” thumb films had tears rolling down my face with how funny they were. It’s been almost 30 years since the first thumb film was released back in 1999 and I think I should take a trip back and watch them all again.

Thumb Wars: The Phantom Cuticle

Whilst this borrows the subtitle from one of the prequels, it’s really a parody of the original Star Wars trilogy, mainly the first film. Telling the story of a simple farmworker called Loke Groundrunner who learns the ways of The Thumb, a mysterious and ancient belief, long believed lost. Loke joins up with the Thumbellion Resistance to defeat Dark Helmet Man, his “big, dangerous weapon thing”, and the Evil Thumbpire. This first film is crammed with stupid, nonsense humour, and the Star Wars references come thick and fast. Such as the silly-named characters like Princess Bunhead, Hand Duet, and my favourite, Oobedoob Scoobi-Doobi Benubi. Or the main action set pieces and locations that you’ll instantly recognise… only more “thumby”.

Favourite Gag
As with all of the films, there are so many great jokes that picking one is tough. Quotes galore that make me laugh just thinking about them and scenes that are living rent-free in my head. But I have gone for a throwaway gag that is only seconds long. I’m going for the build-up to the attack on the “big, dangerous weapon thing” with the finger-wing fighters getting into formation. It cuts to a pilot with no clothes on (a nude thumb!) who just shouts “I’m naked ha-ha-ha-ha!”. Always makes me laugh. But there’s an additional as after the “big, dangerous weapon thing” has been destroyed, we get another pointless cut to the same pilot who proclaims “I’m still naked!”. It’s stupid and I love it.

The Godthumb

No prizes for guessing what this one is a parody of. Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are epic movies that have gone on to be massively highly praised. Part III… no so much. The Godthumb tells the story of a mob boss, who likes eating kittens. When this boss is shot, hundreds of times, and left almost dead… turned into just a head, his son, Mickey takes up the mantle to lead the family. However, rival families and the meatcube (not meatball) invention, may cause a few problems. A little side-fact for you, this is the only Thumb film not written by Steve Oedekerk.

Favourite Gag
I almost picked Johnny Paesano singing his amazing song, Whenever I See A Beautiful Girl. But I’ve gone for the gag when Godthumb is asking his sons for advice on a matter, and as the sons are introduced to the story.

Godthumb: “Afraido?”
Afraido: “I-a don’t-a talk much in ‘dis movie!”

The over-the-top Italian, stereotype accent makes me laugh, but it’s also the fact that Afraido really doesn’t talk much in the movie. I think that quote is about 70% of his total.

Bat Thumb

Mostly based on Tim Burton’s Batman, but also crammed with nods and references to the 1960s Batman TV show. Bat Thumb takes place in Gaaa-Thumb City (that’s how it’s spelt) and follows the life of Wuce Bane, multi-billionaire, playboy by day, who dresses up as a bat to fight crime at night. When serial criminal, No Face turns up and threatens the city, Bat Thumb is called into action…and is joined by his annoying sidekick, Blue Jay.

Favourite Gag
The bit with the customer trying to deposit some money into the bank, and the cashier not understanding and repeatedly slapping him, almost made my pick. Wuce’s drunk butler almost made it too (“It’s bacon outside!”). However, my favourite gag comes from this lengthy exchange between Bat Thumb and a street thug, and a great lampooning of a memorable scene from Batman.

Thug: “Wh-wh-who are you?”
Bat Thumb: “I’m Bat Thumb!”
Thug: “Bat what?”
Bat Thumb: “I’m a bat who thinks he’s a th… I’m a thumb that has a ba… I’m Bat Thumb!”
Thug: “What are ‘ya gonna do to me?”
Bat Thumb: “Nothing! I want you to tell your friends about me. I want you to tell them that there’s a new bat in town and he has his name written all over it.”
Thug: “What?”
Bat Thumb: “Tell them there’s a new thumb in… there’s a bat in the town and he has their name written all over him.”
Thug: “Who am I telling again?”
Bat Thumb: “Your colleagues, other criminals.”
Thug: “Oh! Well, we really don’t hang out together or anything, you know. It’s really not that organised.”
Bat Thumb: “Well, who can you tell?”
Thug: “My mom, I guess.”
Bat Thumb: “Fine! Tell her there’s a new bat in town and he has his name written all over her,”
Thug: “Ohhh, I can’t tell her that.”
Bat Thumb: “Well, just tell her to watch her step.”
Thug: [Uses his phone] “Hi, mom. Watch your step, okay?”

Brilliant, utter nonsense and a funny reference to quite a threatening and foreboding scene in Batman. I love how it flips all of the seriousness of the original scene on its head.

Frankenthumb

It’s time for the mad scientist, Mary Shelley classic, Frankenstein (or The Modern Prometheus) to get a lampooning now. This Thumb version uses the Universal Pictures 1932 film as its main source, it even has the “warning” at the beginning. Shown in glorious black & white… at first before transitioning to colour (I would’ve preferred if it stayed in black & white), Frankenthumb scares us (makes us laugh) as Dr. Frankenthumb robs graves to build his perfect man, and eventually, brings his creation to life, which he calls “Pepper”. When Dr. Frankenthumb realises that his creation is bad, he wants to kill the monster, who then flees and causes a bit of a ruckus, and the villagers soon want the monster dead.

Favourite Gag
The opening with Dr. Frankenthumb robbing the grave and saying that he’ll use the corpse’s “bum cheeks” almost made it, especially as it has a callback joke later. But instead, I’ve picked this Thumb version of the classic Frankenstein monster playing with the girl scene. Mainly for the father character as he brings back the over-the-top Italian, stereotype accent from The Godthumb.

Father: “It’s-a beautiful-a day-a. Okay-a Jenny-a, you be-a careful-a now-a, okay-a?”
Jenny: “Daddy, are you Italian?”
Father: [Thinks for a second]”… Yes-a! 
Jenny: “Alright, can I go play by the pond?”
Father: “Okay-a, but-a you-a be-a careful-a. Okay-a. bye-a bye-a. I’m-a going to go-a into the house-a and make-a some-a pasta-a.”
[Pepper turns up, plays pat-a-cake with Jenny and accidently knocks her into the pond.]
Father: “Hey-a, what are you doing-a? You patty-cake my Jenny-a over into the bushes and brush-a!”
[Jenny is fine and returns]
Jenny: “We were just playing, Daddy.”
Father: “You were-a playing-a with a monster-a! [Shouts at Pepper] You go now-a begone-a!”
[Pepper flees, but knocks the father over as he runs away]
Father: “Hey-a, you knock me down-a! I’m-a down-a! Dinner is a ruined-a!”

I can’t get enough of that over-the-top Italian, stereotype accent, which is a good thing because the father, and his accent, returns later. 

The Blair Thumb

As much as I adore these Thumb films, the original movies they make fun of are usually better… until now. Honestly, I thought The Blair Witch Project was awful, so to see it get a ribbing here is a delight. Stressy, Vic, and Jish (it’s just a name, dude) are three eager (but pretty stupid) students who decide to try to make a documentary about the mysterious Blair Thumb. A supposed evil entity that stalks the woods and kills thumbs. Of course, the students get lost in the woods, become very scared and have to face the Blair Thumb, if they wish to survive.

Favourite Gag
The marshmallow exchange almost made the cut, as did the whole shark fight and the “Totally sharky, complete” line. But no, my favourite joke is when the students are interviewing residents of the town about the Blair Thumb legend.

Interviewee 1: “Oh yeah, the Blair Thumb? Scary stuff!”
Interviewee 2: “Tell ’em what you heard!”
Interviewee 1: “Well, okay, okay. There are these twins, the Briarly Twins. I… I… I think they were twins.”
Interviewee 2: “Twins that look a like!”
Interviewee 1: “They went into the woods. They’d been there hundreds of times, but this time they got lost! Couldn’t find their way, then they saw this woman. She was up in the air, floatin’. She took their heads, switched ’em, like it was a sick game. And then she took their bodies, she switched ’em too. They came back lookin’ exactly the same. But we all knew they’d been all switched up!”
Interviewee 2: “Are you movie people? Do you know Ned Beatty? I do so love Ned Beatty.”
Interviewee 1: “He’s our favourite actor, he is.”
Interviewee 2: “Oh, he’s good. He’s good.”
Interviewee 1: “He’s got it goin’ on!”

Honestly, it was a toss-up between this interview and the llama one, I do love that one. But I think this one just about squeezes into the lead. The “switching” of the twins is funny, but the Ned Beatty praise at the end is the icing on the cake when coming from two backwater yokels. Especially funny if you’ve ever seen Deliverance…

Thumbtanic

Two in a row, two Thumb films that were better than the original movies. Yes, Titanic was crap too. Anyway, while in the ocean, a deep-sea explorer finds the wreck of the Thumbtanic, a luxury liner that sank in 1912. While searching through the ship’s cargo, the explorer finds a drawing of a naked thumb (“She’s naked, and she not wearing any clothes too!”). This is a drawing of Geranium, a passenger who survived the the sinking of the ship. Now very, very, very old, a news reporter interviews Geranium, who tells her story of being on Thumbtanic and her lover, Jake.

Favourite Gag
Not a quote or exchange of words this time. My favourite gag from Thumbtanic is a visual piece of action. As the ship is sinking with everythumb panicking as they face an icy cold and watery death, the ship is attacked by a giant spider. One disaster on top of another. How do they escape this monstrous attack? Hero of the film, Jake pulls out a laser gun and shoots the giant spider, which sends it running away. It’s utterly absurd. Why is there a giant spider, why does a laser gun exist in 1912, why does Jake have it, where did it come from? Who cares? It’s just nonsense fun.

There’s More Thumbs…

For a while, it looked like Thumbtanic was to be the last ever thumb film. More were planned, but they never came. I remember there being a trailer for The Thumbtrix (a parody of The Matrix) on the old website, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere, and the film was never made. I believe that there was also going to be a The Thumbersons (The Simpsons) one too, but that never saw the light of day either. However, The Thumbersons did make an appearance when Thumb Wars/Thumbtanic Thumb Double Feature was released and the thumb family went to watch them at the cinema. Short scenes of The Thumbersons watching Thumb Wars and Thumbtanic were included, and those scenes can be seen here.

Then there was Thumb Debate ’08! A satirical swipe at the presidential debates between Thumbama (Barack Obama) and Thumbcain (John McCain) during the 2008 presidential election.

As recently as 2023, Thumb Wars: The Thighs of Skyskipper was announced as a sequel to Thumb Wars: The Phantom Cuticle and a parody of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Yet, as I write this article in 2026, this seems to be no more. There was even an official trailer released and a May the 4th (of course) release date was mentioned by Steve Oedekerk on his Instagram…

…but nothing since then. Even the website appears to be dead as it has not been updated since 2023. I did find this announcement on Steve’s Instagram where he says that Thumb Wars: The Thighs of Skyskipper will not make its May the 4th (2023) release date, and he says that he is working with a major studio to expand the “thumbverse”, hinting at more and bigger thumb films. But this was also from 2023 and there has been no news since. Surely there would be some kind of official announcement by now?

We almost had more thumb films, but it looks like they may finally be dead. Regardless, what we do have is great, and if you do fancy a bit of stupid nonsense to laugh at, I reckon you might find these thumb films worth a viewing.