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 spoof of the space drama Star Wars with characters such as Loke Groundrunner (parody of Luke Skywalker), Princess Bunhead (parody of Princess Leia), Oobedoob Scoobydooby Benubi (parody of Obi-wan Kenobi), Hand Duet (parody of Han Solo), Crunchy (parody of Chewbacca), Beboobeep (parody of R2-D2), Prissypeo (parody of C-3PO) and Black Helmet Man (parody of archvillain Darth Vader). Thumb Wars debuted on American television May 18, 1999, on UPN. The TV version provided a trimmed down version of the film.

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