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.

I remember seeing this short before 'Cars (my least favourite Pixar film so far)' at the cinema and whilst renting the first volume of Pixar Shorts on DVD, I enjoyed it more on my third viewing today than the first two.While the entire film takes place against a single background, it is relatively realistic if not as lifelike as the street in 'The Blue Umbrella' but the idea of using music as a duel is original, the musicians wear brightly-coloured outfits and the little girl is cute. The story had some sort of a 'will-she-or-won't-she?' moment when it came to the girl trying to decide which musician to pay or if she was going to throw the coins she got given at the end in the fountain. The music is authentic and very true to the instruments the musicians play. It also plays an effective part in telling the story since this short has no dialogue.All in all this is a simple, jolly and somewhat amusing short that was more substantial on my third viewing and preferable to the film it preceded. 9/10.

For a moment I thought I had walked into the wrong theatre. The Pixar-animated short ONE MAN BAND was the first thing on the screen -- no announcement, just there, unfolding itself as a simple story of a little child who goes to a wishing well with one gold coin and is wooed by two musicians carrying the most complicated apparatuses that can in essence replicate an entire orchestra and play smart tunes.Watching the little girl react to the first musician who distracts her from throwing her coin into the water was a hoot. More so, when the second musician appears in defiance. Soon a frenetic play-off sends the little girl back into the fountain and before she has a chance to throw her coin, down it goes into the gutter, leaving now three people coin-less.I thought that it would turn into a schmaltzy moment -- the little girl's contorting grimace as she veers close to tears certainly seemed to indicate so -- but it's here when the story turned into something completely different, straight out of Warner Bros. hilarious toons. She asks the musicians to pay her, but they have nothing, and then she asks one of them to hand over a violin, then a bow -- which he does -- and she begins playing. Badly.No sooner than she starts than out of nowhere a by-passer throws a bag filled to the top with coins. It was a sudden, remarkable moment -- I was caught taken by surprise and laughter at its "Bang!" quality -- and thus, she is proved the winner in this little battle for survival as she throws two coins into the top of the fountain. The last scene has the two musicians trying to climb to the top of the fountain, at night, still trying to take away the coins she left.A funny little intro to CARS, one crackling with the crazy wit that toons should always have instead of hammering away at the strings of the heart like it were some kind of perverse guitar. If only the rest of the movie would have had this sort of pulling the rug moment, but CARS was made to manipulate people to feel good, cry a little, and wonder what it's like to live in a world where even little insects are mini-cars. Somewhere, James Cameron must be chuckling to himself. The machines in this Universe have won.

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