Parade des Sools Review: Two minutes of marching hats that I can't stop thinking about

So, is Parade des Sools worth your two minutes today? Honestly, yes, especially if you have a soft spot for weird, old-school French animation that was actually made to sell hats. But if you can't stand grainy black-and-white stop-motion or get bored without a plot, you will probably hate it.

It is basically a 1932 commercial for Sools hats. But man, they really do not make ads like this anymore. 🎩

The whole thing is directed by Alexander Alexeieff and Claire Parker. These are the same geniuses who invented the pinscreen techique, which is basically pushing thousands of tiny pins through a board to make art.

In this short, we just see a bunch of hats. Literally, just hats marching around like little soldiers on a blank stage.

There is this one moment where a bowler hat morphs into a top hat, and it has this weird, stuttery rhythm that I just love. It feels so alive, even though its just felt and cardboard.

It kind of reminds me of the theatrical energy in La revue des revues, but way more abstract and miniature. Just pure visual playfulness.

Some of the shots are a bit fuzzy. Like, the lighting in the background goes from dark grey to slightly lighter grey for no obvious reason, probably because they were shooting frame-by-frame over days and could not keep the studio lights perfectly consistent.

And the music! It is this jaunty, slightly tinny tune that gets stuck in your head instantly.

Honestly, I watched it twice back-to-back because the first time went by too fast. It is a tiny, dusty little miracle from the past.

If you are looking for deep meaning or heavy drama, go watch Outward Bound instead. Here, you are just getting a very stylish, slightly creepy parade of headwear.