“Spy Kids” Director Robert Rodriguez Shares Inspiration Behind Thumb Thumb Characters (Exclusive)

Tereza Shkurtaj, Abby RoedelSat, March 14, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC

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Robert Rodriguez; Thumb Thumb characters from 'Spy Kids'Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; Dimension Films

Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez has long been known for blending imagination, action and family adventure in his movies.

One of his most recognizable projects is the 2001 family film Spy Kids, which introduced young audiences to a colorful world of secret agents, high-tech gadgets and unusual villains.

On March 5, 2026, the Austin Film Society celebrated that legacy during the 26th annual Texas Film Awards at Troublemaker Studios in Austin, Texas — the same place where Spy Kids was originally filmed. The event also marked the movie’s 25th anniversary, bringing attention back to the creativity behind its memorable characters and designs.

Looking back on one of the strangest characters in the film, his Thumb Thumb henchmen, Rodriguez, 57, shared where the inspiration began: “The thumb guys were my first art contest I ever won when I was 16,” he tells PEOPLE exclusively.

Thumb Thumb characters from 'Spy Kids.'Credit: Dimension Films

Rodriguez explained that the idea started as a simple drawing when he was a teenager. While sketching, he noticed something unusual about the shape of his own thumb and began experimenting with it as a character design.

“I was trying to draw a thumb because I drew my thumb and it looked like a head. So when I turned it, I made an arm in a leg and I made a body out of it,” he shares. “I went, ‘That's kind of a cool design.’ So I had him kicking an eyeball around and I called it 'Thumb Thumbs Playing Eyeball.' And I won a contest at 16.”

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Years later, when Rodriguez was developing Spy Kids, he remembered that early drawing. Rodriguez says the old sketch felt like the perfect fit for the playful tone of the film.

“I wanted to bring some of those old dreams and images I had,” he says. “I thought, wouldn't that be cool if they could move with CG and make them henchmen that are all thumbs and they're useless?"

Alexa PenaVega, Daryl Sabara and Robert Rodriguez on set of 'Spy Kids'Credit: Dimension Films / DR/Alamy

Spy Kids follows Carmen and Juni Cortez, played by Alexa PenaVega and Daryl Sabara, as two kids who discover their parents — played by Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino — are secret agents who have been captured by a strange children’s television host turned villain, Fegan Floop, played by Alan Cumming.

As the kids enter Floop’s bizarre world, they encounter the unusual henchmen known as the Thumb Thumbs: robotic guards made entirely out of thumbs. With thumbs for heads, arms and legs, the characters move awkwardly but still serve as security for Floop’s castle. Their strange look quickly became one of the most memorable visuals in the movie.

For Rodriguez, bringing that teenage drawing to life was about capturing a childlike sense of imagination. “I wanted it to feel like it came from the mind of a child,” he tells PEOPLE. “So I went back to a lot of my old drawings and stuff and put that in.”

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”