Saturday Afternoon Cartoons is the city's standing showcase for early animation projected the way it was meant to be seen - actual 16mm prints from Tommy Jose Stathes's archive, full of orphan films you cannot stream anywhere. This edition is built around insects: a farmer versus mosquitoes, a beetle conducting a swing band, Popeye battling termites. If you have a kid who has only seen cartoons on a tablet, this is the corrective.
What to expect
A one-hour program of vintage animated shorts running from the 1920s to the 1950s, projected from 16mm prints rather than digital files, with all the grain and splice marks that implies. Stathes introduces the reels and stays for a Q&A afterward. Metrograph's theaters are small, so the room fills quickly for a midday show.
Good to know
- Metrograph is at 7 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side; the F to East Broadway and the B and D to Grand Street are the closest stops.
- The program runs about an hour, which makes it one of the few repertory screenings that genuinely works for younger kids.
- These are 16mm prints from a private archive, so expect scratches, splices and the occasional soft reel - that is the point.
- Buy ahead online; Saturday Afternoon Cartoons has a following and the room is not large.
- There is a bar and a bookshop upstairs if you want to make an afternoon of it.
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Common questions
Is this suitable for children?
Yes. An hour of classic cartoons is short enough for most kids, and the program is built around a light theme. Some of the humor is very much of its era, so a parent may want to skim the program notes first.
What does 16mm actually mean here?
Real film running through a projector rather than a digital file. Prints from a private archive show wear, and that texture is a large part of why people come.
Is there a Q&A?
Yes. Metrograph lists an introduction and a Q&A with collector Tommy Jose Stathes, so budget a few extra minutes beyond the hour of cartoons.
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