The Merry Old Soul: A Fever Dream of Diapers

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for 1930s animation that feels a little unhinged, you’ll dig this. People who get stressed out by repetitive motion or high-pitched singing should probably steer clear. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart, or for anyone who values a quiet household.

There is something genuinely chaotic about The Merry Old Soul. It starts off with a wedding, but the tone shifts pretty fast once the babies start pouring out of every piece of furniture. It’s like a nursery-themed horror movie, only with way more catchy tunes.

The Assembly Line of Doom

The whole middle section is just the King running a full-scale industrial plant to wash and dry these kids. I found myself staring at the rinse line for way too long. The way the movie treats diapering with paper towels stapled together? It feels disturbingly practical, in a weird way. It’s the kind of detail that makes you wonder what the animator was thinking on a Tuesday morning.

The rhythm of the whole thing is just relentless. Once the sewing machine starts rocking the cradles, you’d think the King could get five minutes of shut-eye. Nope. The babies decide to crank the speed up to eleven, and the whole house turns into a centrifugal mess.

• The singing is relentless. It actually made me want to shut a window too.
• The babies seem to multiply, which is honestly a little unsettling.
• The animation style reminds me of the manic energy you see in The Phantom Empire, just with less cowboys and way more soap suds.

I caught myself thinking about how much work it is to just put one kid to sleep, let alone an entire drawer-full. The king looks absolutely haunted by the end. It’s a short, weird, and slightly loud look at parenthood that definitely wasn't trying to be a parenting manual.

It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a trip. Sometimes I prefer these older shorts over anything modern because they don't bother trying to make sense. They just want to see how many babies you can fit on a drying rack before the screen explodes. 🍼