Changes: Thelma Thumb

Revision as of 16:35, 16 August 2019

The Adventures of Thelma Thumb was a series of animated segments on Sesame Street, first introduced in season 9. Designed to teach pre-science concepts, the series was produced by John Korty using his Lumage system, which utilized fabric cut-outs.

The central character was Marcia Middlewell, a seemingly average girl who harbored a secret alter-ego. When accidents appeared inevitable or other trouble spots occurred, Marcia would enter a phone booth. With the utterance of her magic phrase, "Zapper jiffy squincher scrum, make me into Thelma Thumb!", she would shrink to the size of a salt shaker and fly to the rescue. Thelma's size allowed the segments to examine objects and places from a unique perspective. Also featured was Marcia's pet magpie, Cyrus, designed by Brian Narelle. As with other Korty shorts, the dialogue was partially improvised by San Francisco-based actors; Judith Kahan supplied the voice of Marcia/Thelma, and James Cranna was Cyrus.

The segments remained in rotation on the show through season 14, but they still occasionally surface in the Netherlands, on Sesamstraat. Marcia Middlewell/Thelma Thumb is renamed Marijke/Selma Duim and voiced by Marijke Merckens. Cyrus, now Kobus Kraai, is voiced by Sesamstraat voice veteran Paul Haenen. In Spain she was renamed Espita Gorgorita/Pepita Pulgarcita, and in Germany she was called Däumelinchen (Thumbelina).

Sketches

Picture	Summary / EKA	Description
	In the Dark Episode 1171	A friend of Marcia's is in danger: he's riding his bike at night without lights. Thelma asks the fireflies for help.
	Giraffe Episode 1174	A giraffe in the zoo has swallowed a whistle. Thelma flies inside the giraffe's throat to find it.
	Binoculars Episode 1178	Thelma looks for a pair of binoculars that Cyrus has lost.
	Thelma Meets Cyrus Episode 1184	Thelma meets Cyrus the magpie, who, after getting covered with yellow paint, had been mistaken for a canary and locked in a cage in a pet shop. Thelma rescues him and becomes his friend.
	Ant's Picnic Episode 1310
	Stolen Bikes Episode 1311	All the children's bicycles are stolen. Marcia asks Cyrus to watch her bike, but the thieves steal the bike and kidnap Cyrus. Thelma locates the thieves, locks them up in the garage, and calls the cops.
	Broken Ship Episode 1312	A ship is about to crash on the rocks: there's a bolt missing from the helm. Thelma flies inside the engine to find it and repairs the ship.
	Wrecking Ball Episode 1313	Thelma rescues a kitten from a building that's about to be destroyed with a wrecking ball.
	Fallen Bridge Episode 1314	Marcia and her friends are looking for D words, and Cyrus brings them a "DANGER" sign from a fallen bridge. Thelma must put the sign back before the school bus tries to cross the bridge.
	Trapeze Episode 1389	Thelma rescues an acrobat in the circus when the trapeze breaks.
	Bees Episode 1393	A beehive is disturbing a little girl in her treehouse, so Thelma convinces the bees to move their hive to another tree surrounded by flowers.
	Nest Episode 1405	Thelma saves a sparrow's nest.
	Airplane Episode 1423	A boy’s toy airplane’s controls break. Thelma comes to the rescue by steering the plane.
	Beach Crab Episode 1438	At the beach, a man’s hat falls onto a crab, who crawls into a boy’s sandcastle. The man wants to destroy the sandcastle to get his hat back, but instead Thelma asks the crab to return the hat.
	Lost Baseball Episode 1465	During a baseball game, a kid's baseball falls into a rabbit's hole. Thelma travels through the hole to get it back.
	Piano Episode 1482	During a piano recital, a string snaps. Thelma flies inside the grand piano to hold the loose ends together.
	On Thin Ice Episode 1510	Thelma saves an ice fisherman when the ice around him cracks.
	Soapbox Racer Episode 1516	A soap box racer loses its front wheel. Thelma comes to the rescue by pulling the racer.
	Boys vs. Girls	The boys try to sabotage a game of baseball because they don't want the girls to play along. Thelma helps the girls set things straight by letting them win.

Credits

Director/Producer: John Korty
Designer/Writer: Brian Narelle
Art Director/Set Designer: Harley Jessup
Editor: Michael Rosenthal
Animator: Amanda Bereny
Ink and Paint: Kevin Richardson

Sources

Jessen, Taylor. Final Cut-Out: The Making of Twice Upon a Time. Animation Blast #9, 2006.

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 The central character was Marcia Middlewell, a seemingly average girl who harbored a secret alter-ego. When accidents appeared inevitable or other trouble spots occurred, Marcia would enter a phone booth. With  the utterance of her magic phrase, "Zapper jiffy squincher scrum, make me into Thelma Thumb!", she would shrink to the size of a salt shaker and fly to the rescue. Thelma's size allowed the segments to examine objects and places from a unique perspective. Also featured was Marcia's pet magpie, Cyrus, designed by Brian Narelle. As with other Korty shorts, the dialogue was partially improvised by [[San Francisco]]-based actors; [[Judith Kahan]] supplied the voice of Marcia/Thelma, and [[James Cranna]] was Cyrus.
-The segments remained in rotation on the show through [[Season 16 (1984-1985)|season 16]], but they still occasionally surface in [[the Netherlands]], on ''[[Sesamstraat]]''. Marcia Middlewell/Thelma Thumb is renamed Marijke/Selma Duim and voiced by Marijke Merckens. Cyrus, now Kobus Kraai, is voiced by ''Sesamstraat'' voice veteran [[Paul Haenen]].
+The segments remained in rotation on the show through [[Season 14 (1982-1983)|season 14]], but they still occasionally surface in [[the Netherlands]], on ''[[Sesamstraat]]''. Marcia Middlewell/Thelma Thumb is renamed Marijke/Selma Duim and voiced by Marijke Merckens. Cyrus, now Kobus Kraai, is voiced by ''Sesamstraat'' voice veteran [[Paul Haenen]].
 In [[Spain]] she was renamed Espita Gorgorita/Pepita Pulgarcita, and in [[Germany]] she was called Däumelinchen ([[Thumbelina]]).