Please Go 'Way and Let Me Sleep: A Relatable Nightmare

Is it worth the watch?

If you like vintage animation or just have a deep, burning hatred for your alarm clock, this is 100% worth your time. It’s short, punchy, and honestly kind of stressful in a funny way. If you hate old-school rubber-hose animation, or if you prefer plots that actually go somewhere, you might find this a bit repetitive.

I sat down to watch Please Go 'Way and Let Me Sleep expecting something light. I didn't expect to be triggered by the sound of a cartoon alarm clock, but here we are. It’s basically just Bimbo vs. the entire concept of waking up.

The animation is wild, as you’d expect from Fleischer and Natwick. Things stretch, snap, and break in ways that shouldn't be physically possible. At one point, the furniture itself seems to be mocking him. It’s chaotic. It’s loud. It’s perfect.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Please Go 'Way and Let Me Sleep (1931) through its definitive frames.

Small observations

• The rooster’s eyes are genuinely unsettling. They have that 1930s ‘void’ look.
• The way the alarm clocks multiply is like a fever dream.
• Bimbo’s level of exhaustion feels very real. We’ve all been there, covered in blankets, wishing the sun would just stop existing for a few hours.

It reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in Die Gespensteruhr, where the objects seem to have their own agenda. Except here, the agenda is just pure, unadulterated annoyance. There’s no big moral or lesson, which is refreshing. Sometimes you just want to see a dog fight a clock.

The pacing is relentless. It doesn't give you a second to catch your breath, which I guess is the point. You’re supposed to feel as tired and hounded as Bimbo is. By the end, I felt like I needed a nap myself. 😴

I don't know if this holds up as a 'masterpiece' or whatever, but it’s a mood. And honestly, that’s enough. It’s much more grounded in raw frustration than some of the stuff I saw in The Big Party, which felt like a total snooze-fest by comparison.

Maybe don't watch this right before you need to wake up for work. It might give you bad dreams about ticking hands and crowing birds. Just a heads up.