Thelma Thumb

"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 spring into action. 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). 
 
Image:Marciamiddlewell.jpg|Marcia Middlewell, Thelma's civilian identity
Image:Cyrus.jpg|The cynical Cyrus X. Magpie
 
==Sketches==
Picture	Summary / EKA 	Description
 	In the DarkEpisode 1171 	A friend of Marcia's is in danger: he's riding his bike at night without lights. Thelma asks the fireflies for help.
 	Thelma Meets CyrusEpisode 1174	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.
 	BinocularsEpisode 1178 	Thelma looks for a pair of binoculars that Cyrus has lost.
 	Ant's PicnicEpisode 1183 	Marcia readies a picnic for herself and Cyrus, when she sees her cheese being absconded by some ants. Turning into Thelma Thumb, she discovers the ants are using it as a sideshow in a carnival. Thelma has some fun, until she finds Cyrus has been eating the carnival (thinking it was their picnic).
 	GiraffeEpisode 1254 	A giraffe in the zoo has swallowed a whistle. Thelma flies inside the giraffe's throat to find it.
 	Stolen BikesEpisode 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 ShipEpisode 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 BallEpisode 1313 	Thelma rescues a nest of baby sparrows from a building that's about to be destroyed with a wrecking ball.
 	Fallen BridgeEpisode 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.
 	TrapezeEpisode 1389 	Thelma rescues an acrobat in the circus when the trapeze breaks.
 	BeesEpisode 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.
 	AirplaneEpisode 1423 	A boy’s toy airplane’s controls break. Thelma comes to the rescue by steering the plane.
 	Beach CrabEpisode 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 BaseballEpisode 1465 	During a baseball game, a kid's baseball falls into a rabbit's hole. Thelma travels through the hole to get it back.
 	PianoEpisode 1482 	During a piano recital, a string snaps. Thelma flies inside the grand piano to hold the loose ends together.
 	FireEpisode 1507 	Thelma rescues all the animals from the pet shop when a nearby shoe store catches on fire.
 	On Thin IceEpisode 1510 	Thelma saves an ice fisherman when the ice around him cracks.
 	ConstructionEpisode 1513 	Thelma saves a little girl's kitten that has wandered onto a long, high beam at a construction site.
 	Soapbox RacerEpisode 1516 	A soap box racer loses its front wheel. Thelma comes to the rescue by pulling the racer.
==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.
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Category:Animated Characters
Category:Sesame Street Characters
Category:Sesame Street Animated Segments
Category:Superheroes