I watched a 1932 Betty Boop short and now I hate my alarm clock even more

Is it worth the five minutes?

You should probably watch this if you have ever felt like throwing your phone across the room when the alarm goes off. It is perfect for people who love that weird, rubbery animation from the thirties where literally everything has a face. If you find the old 'bouncing ball' sing-alongs annoying, you might want to skip it, but you'd be missing out on some genuine 1930s weirdness.

I watched this while drinking my first cup of coffee and it felt strangely personal. The cartoon is basically one big mood about how much it sucks to be awake before you want to be.

The whole thing takes place in an army camp, but it is not like any army I have ever seen. The bugler looks like he hasn't slept since 1928. When he blows his horn, the horn itself looks like it is screaming in pain. It’s actually kind of funny how much personality they gave a piece of brass.

There is this one moment where the tents start waking up. They don't just open; they literally stand up and stretch like they have back pain. It is that classic Fleischer style where the background refuses to stay still.

I love the logic of this era. A soldier is sleeping and his mattress literally folds him in half to force him out of bed. I could use a bed like that, though I would probably end up hating it within a week.

Then Betty Boop shows up. She isn't really the star here, which is a bit of a letdown if you came specifically for her. She is mostly just there to introduce the song and look cute. She has this way of blinking that feels like she is in on a joke we don't know yet.

The main event is the Irving Berlin song. The lyrics are actually pretty dark if you listen closely. The singer talks about wanting to murder the bugler and then spending the rest of his life in jail just so he can sleep in. It is surprisingly relatable for a cartoon that is almost a hundred years old.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning (1932) through its definitive frames.

The 'bouncing ball' part is always a bit of a trip. I didn't sing out loud—I’m not that far gone yet—but the rhythm is catchy. It’s much more laid back than something like Swing High which came out around the same time. That one felt a bit more frantic, whereas this is just a steady groove of morning misery.

I noticed a small detail in the corner of the screen during the chorus. There is a pair of shoes that just walks itself onto a soldier's feet. No laces, no effort. Why can't real life be like that?

The animation quality is a bit hit-or-miss. There is some flickering that made my eyes hurt for a second. And some of the character designs in the background look like they were drawn in about thirty seconds. But that adds to the charm, I think. It feels human and handmade.

One scene goes on a little too long where a guy is trying to put on his pants and the pants keep running away. It becomes funny, then boring, then funny again because of how long it lasts. It’s a very specific kind of physical comedy that you don't see much anymore.

It is not a masterpiece of storytelling. It is barely a story at all. It is just a collection of gags held together by a very famous song. But it works because we all know that feeling of wanting to hide under the covers forever.

The ending is very abrupt. The song stops, the ball disappears, and the cartoon just ends. No big finale. Just... done. It’s like the animators decided they had worked enough and went home to take a nap themselves.

• Best moment: The bugle having a literal mouth and teeth.
• Worst moment: The grainy film quality makes some of the lyrics hard to read.
• Betty Boop meter: About a 3 out of 10. She’s barely in it.

Check it out if you’re a fan of animation history or if you just need a reason to complain about your 7 AM start. It’s a nice little time capsule that proves people have been grumpy in the morning since the beginning of time.