Saturday Afternoon Cartoons: April Showers

Director: Multiple Dirs

1950 / 60min / 16mm

Saturday Afternoon Cartoons is New York City’s prime theatrical showcase of early and classic animated cartoons, shown in vintage 16mm film prints from the personal archives of historian Tommy José Stathes. Beginning over 20 years ago as a casual effort to find and see early cartoons that were unavailable on home video, Stathes’s collection has grown to become perhaps one of the largest of its kind. It includes many titles and ‘orphan films’ that are difficult to access or view elsewhere.

Stathes joins Metrograph in April with April Showers, a selection of vintage animated shorts revolving around the old saying “April showers bring May flowers.” Come enjoy a cantankerous farmer piloting his very own Noah’s Ark; a little girl’s surreal fantasy when a rainstorm prevents her from playing outside; a cartoon clown and his human creator in quite a hurricane; two clever magpies and their attempts to end a drought; a famous cartoon pig playing a farmer and seeking rainfall for his crops, and more. Spanning the 1920s through the ’50s, this assortment showcases classic characters such as Farmer Al Falfa, Little Audrey, Heckle and Jeckle, Koko the Clown, Porky Pig, and others.

Featuring introduction and Q&A with Stathes.