Tom Thumb Gallery

The Tom Thumb Annual Floating Art Exhibition, founded in 1998, by Jimmy Kuehnle and Kjell Hahn is a student run alternative exhibition opportunity located in Kirksville, Missouri. It is one of two alternative exhibition opportunities from the gallery at Truman State University. The second is Gallery 1/33.

History

The Tom Thumb Annual Floating Art Exhibition was founded to provide exhibition opportunities for students and artists at Truman State University and Kirksville. It rose out of a frustration with Truman State Gallery's Student Juried Exhibition and the lack of student exhibition opportunists outside the BFA shows and the then annual Student Show. Kuehnle and Kjell did not like the standards and restrictions placed on them by the University. They decided to began their own alternative space. In 1998, they cleared out Kjell's apartment and held an open art submission. The following three years the shows were held there. It then moved to a renovated home located at 603 First Street for the next two years. Since it has been held at various locations including the former Aquadome, the old One World Store, the Kirksville Arts Association and the Washington School. Local people call it a "floating exhibition" because of these yearly venue changes. The Tom Thumb Annual Floating Art Exhibition does not reject submissions of any kind and usually features a guest speaker and other forms of entertainment. One such novelty is called, "Improve the Art" and consists of a poor artwork provided by the gallery. Guests are then invited to "improve" the artwork with various art supplies ranging from oil pastels to spray paint.

Tom Thumb

Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. The History of Tom Thumb was published in 1621, and was the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tangling with giants, and becoming a favourite of King Arthur. The earliest allusions to Tom occur in various 16th-century works such as Reginald Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft (1584), where Tom is cited as one of the supernatural folk employed by servant maids to frighten children.

Tattershall in Lincolnshire, UK, boasts to have the home and grave of Tom Thumb.

Aside from his own tales, Tom figures in Henry Fielding's play Tom Thumb, a companion piece to his The Author's Farce. It was later expanded into a single piece titled The Tragedy of Tragedies, or the History of Tom Thumb the Great.

In the middle 18th century, books began to be published specifically for children (some with their authorship attributed to "Tommy Thumb") and, by the middle 19th century, Tom was a fixture of the nursery library. Charlotte Yonge cleansed questionable passages and the tale took on moral overtones. Dinah Mulock however refrained from scrubbing the tale of its vulgarities. Tom Thumb's story has been adapted to several films including the 1958 George Pal musical tom thumb starring Russ Tamblyn. Tiny folkloric characters like Tom are known in cultures around the world.

Tom Thumb (film)

Tom Thumb (stylised as tom thumb) is a 1958 fantasy-musical film directed by George Pal and released by MGM. The film, based on the fairy tale of the same name, is about a tiny man who manages to outwit two thieves determined to make a fortune from him.

It starred Russ Tamblyn in the title role, with a largely British supporting cast (it was filmed in both Hollywood and London), including Bernard Miles and Jessie Matthews as Tom Thumb's adoptive parents, and comic actors Terry-Thomas and Peter Sellers as the villainous duo who try to exploit the tiny hero for profit.

Director Pal worked with cinematographer Georges Périnal, animators Wah Chang and Gene Warren, art director Elliot Scott and special effects artist Tom Howard to create the animated and fantasy sequences. Peggy Lee wrote the songs, and Douglas Gamley and Ken Jones wrote the music.

The film is referenced in The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) and Pinkeltje (1978). The film is also featured in That's Dancing! (1985)

Tom Thumb (comics)

Tom Thumb is the name of two fictional characters (both with the real name Thomas Thompson) who are owned by Marvel Comics and appear in the comic books published by that company. Both are loosely based on the DC Comics superhero, the Atom.

Squadron Supreme

Concept

While the Squadron is based on the Silver Age Justice League, Tom Thumb is closer to the Golden Age Atom; a very short adventurer with no superpowers. Though he is a surprisingly skilled and agile fighter for his size, his greatest similarity to the Silver Age version is that he is a brilliant scientist.

Fictional character biography

Thomas Thompson, a dwarf, was a scientist, inventor, adventurer, and member of the superhero team Squadron Supreme. He was born in Melzburg, Danteana, on Earth-712. His main contribution to the team was his scientific genius. He designed the Squadron's headquarters and frequently created advanced devices such as a Behavior Modifying Machine that could be used on criminals to change their ways, and a force field belt that protected its wearer and could even deflect bullets.