Die Ein-Mann-Band

One Man Ban was an absolutely charming piece of work! The colors were vibrant and whimsical and the designs were cute and caricatured. I loved it from the moment it started until the very end! It's surprising it didn't win the Oscar; it was definitely better than the winner. I suppose the judges couldn't justify giving the same crew Oscar after Oscar after Oscar...

The story is about a pair of street performers locked in a competition to out-perform the other and win the golden coin of a little girl passing by. Their musical dueling was delightful and I can't even imagine directing a film where the whole script is music!

10/10

Highly recommended!

The 2 street musicians battle for money. And one little girl was wondering which one is better musician to give some tips.

And accidentally, she drops the coin in the hole. She was disappointed, so she begging money from them, but they don't have enough money so they gave one guitar to her.

She played the guitar so well and she could make more money than another musician.

The 2 musicians were expected to collect money from her but she throws coins into the pond. I enjoy watching this movie, thank you.

After its final credits, it continuous in your mind. the music. the characters fight . the coin. the fountain. and the feel to be part of film yourself. because it is ( almost ) perfect. no reason to explain why. but the emotion and smile and the young woman who could be an old one, the clothes of performers and the musical instruments are so...lovely than the animation is more than great or amazing. its simplicity and the care for each detail transforms it in one of memorable story about music, competition and ...the wise choice.

Pixar, at least the preDisney Pixar, uses shorts as experiments. They've used them for new volume computation routines. Remember the birds squooshed together on a telephone line? Remember "Boundin'" which investigated the use of quickly changing space? This one is an amusement of course, they all are. But its reason to be what it is, is the opportunity to explore how characters define space. A problem with the type of 3D animation Pixar does is that the characters become harder. Their skin becomes more of an edge that separates them from their context. Human actors have ways around this. Digital puppets don't have this same possibility.

But they have others, and one of those is to be compound beings. But how to use this so the characters "read" well is unknown. So we have this experiment. As with all Pixar projects, its a triumph. Its more amazing when you know the problem they were solving.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

One Man Band is simply one of the best shorts ever produced. The minute I saw it I was enchanted and knew I had found my favorite Pixar short to date. Pixar's meticulous attention to detail is conveyed in the brilliance of the story and the craftsmanship of the animation. The short plays like a silent film. No dialogue. Just pantomime. It tells the story of two street musicians trying to compete for the gold coin of a young peasant girl who just wants to cast it in the town square's wish fountain. A simple story told with lots of wit and humor. Plus, there's a twist. It doesn't end the way you think it will. As always, the animation is spot-on and very impressive. The character designs are so cute and appealing. The sound quality is top notch. And the surrounding Renaissance world is a feast of warm colors and visual beauty. It's funny, original, and clever. Proves the simplest ideas are often the best. If I have one complaint about One Man Band is that it isn't longer in length. I was hoping for more! Great addition to the Cars DVD!