As mind-blowing as the world of cartoons currently is, with everything from the off-kilter antics of Adventure Time to the far-sweeping epics of anime, I can’t help but feel like the younger set are missing out on something that I didn’t even realize was awesome at the time–those weird, vintage animations that ran in the early morning hours when TV channels had run out of original programming. Those clips exuded a creativity and uniqueness that was totally unlike anything else I knew, and, since they predate a lot of current thinking about what’s appropriate viewing material for children, were totally, unwittingly bizarre, or even creepy. Tom Stathes, a “cartoon crytozoologist” who has been collecting lost cartoon footage for more than a decade, is hosting his Cartoon Carnival at Observatory, and bringing along some of the spookiest, weirdest 16mm cartoons in his collection to share with his audience (along with his film projector!) and with an advance ticket, you could be one of them. –-V.R.
