Saturday Afternoon Cartoons: Bugs We Love(?)

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 more than 25 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 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 August with Bugs We Love(?), a selection of vintage animated shorts dedicated to the true stars of summertime—insects! Come enjoy a crabby farmer’'s run-in with a number of pesky mosquitoes, a chivalrous fly saving his mate from an enemy species, a musical beetle conducting a swing band, a famous sailor battling termites in his home, a canine’s hilarious showdown with his own parasitic flea, and other amusing tales. Spanning the 1920s through the ’50s, this assortment showcases classic characters such as Elmer Fudd, Popeye, Felix the Cat, Porky Pig, and more.

Featuring introduction and Q&A with Stathes.

Part of Screen Time at Metrograph