One Man Band (2005) User Reviews

Fine Pixar effort

[sashank_kini-1 · 7/10 · 27 August 2011]

Pixar's one man band get cacophonous when two buskers vie to get a gold coin from a little girl. The short story starts with an avuncular busker playing simple music with his trumpet, when he sees that a little girl is about to drop her coin in the fountain, perhaps for a wish. But he manages to lure her with his music and immediately pushes his bowl so that the coin goes into his pocket. Just when the girl reaches to drop the coin into the bowl, another violinist begins to play his instrument. This man is lanky and he plays his instrument mellifluously.

The war begins and the girl gets confused as both the buskers get more and more competitive. The ending is unexpected, and I'm glad Pixar didn't go for an emotional ending. The animation is quite vibrant and detailed for a short film and the humor is subtle. My rating: 7/10

Funny for musicians

[pressy_boy · 9/10 · 26 October 2006]

This was a funny short clip from Pixar. I think all musicians will find it really funny and, because they're a musician, they'd understand the comedy and duelling between the men, who try to 'entice' the little girl to give up her last and only coin. I thought the part where the 'brass' guy tore one of the 'strings' guy's violins and handed it to the girl was funny. In the end, the little girl 'screeches' the violin and tunes it, eventually playing a fast, Italian piece, resulting in a stranger throwing a big bag of coins in front of her. She then gets out two coins, making it look like one, quickly gesturing the coins into two, she raises them over her head and throws them into the topmost 'bowl' of the fountain. The last bit of the animation short shows the brass guy and string guy balancing on top of the other trying to get the coins out of the top.

Another lovely Pixar short

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 12 February 2008]

Again and again, Pixar films has produced the very best in cutting-edge shorts using computer generated animation. The quality is top-notch and the writing exceptional--so good that for the worst of these short films I'd give them perhaps an 8. The problem, however, is that the films are so good, so consistently great that I think the Academy Awards folks are reticent to give this studio the Oscar for Best Animated Short--otherwise, smaller and less prestigious studios might feel left out and not even bother entering since Pixar would take home most of the awards. I have noticed that their films don't seem to win like they used to and in a few cases (such as KNICK KNACK) they weren't even nominated--even though, to me, they seemed to be producing the best shorts. They are consistently very funny and the most technologically challenging product out there.

Now it is very difficult to assess whether or not the wonderful ONE-MAN BAND was yet another case like this because although I have seen this film, the winner (THE MOON AND THE SON) is difficult to find and isn't available anywhere on the internet. I'm not even sure where I can get this HBO produced short. All I can say is that ONE-MAN BAND looks near-perfect, has tremendous set and character design and will make you laugh even though it is dialog-free. A truly exceptional and charming film.

vibrant and whimsical!

[tevih · 10/10 · 6 June 2006]

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

Hard To Express How Stunning This Looks & Sounds

[ccthemovieman-1 · 10/10 · 26 June 2007]

Wow, the first thing I noticed was how stunning this looked. Of course, I have been watching a ton of 40s, 50s and 60s cartoons in the last two months so something this new - and with surround sound - is a shock to see and hear, and is extremely impressive.

Even in this computer era, this is a stunning short little animated story. Sometimes I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing as two one-man bands compete for a coin from a little girl. All they want is a little money for their efforts, but this little girl is a tough sell. The music by these two guys is spectacular.

Others have gone into detail so there is no need for me to comment except I will stick up for the two incredible one-man-band players. The little girl was a nasty, little so-and-so. However, as a cartoon it was amazing and almost too much for words. It just makes me wish more of this kind of thing could be done. Why can't there be good, original, entertaining and clean cartoons any more? You have to go back to the 30s through the '70s for anything good, like the Looney Tunes or the Pink Panther

This Pixar cartoon shows the incredible animation that could be done for short cartoons today This was an extra feature that came with the "Cars" DVD.

Fun and energetic little sketch

[bob the moo · 27 April 2008]

In a village square a busker prepares for what seems like a quiet day. As luck would have it, a child walks into the square with a shiny coin. She seems intent on making a wish at the fountain but the busker sees his opportunity and strikes up to attract her attention. Unfortunately for him another busker is in the square with the very same idea – and so begins a tense busk-off in the otherwise quiet square.

Attached to the Cars DVD, this short film was better than the customary short that featured the characters from the full film. The scenario is very simple and it goes where you expect in regards the busking becoming more intense. It is pretty funny but more pleasing was the ending which saw the little girl come into it more and become part of the comedy herself. Certainly compared to Mater & the Ghostlight, this film is fun and energetic to the point where it will appeal to adults as much as children and, to my mind, this is what Pixar is all about and is what made this short fun to watch.

A Short Film with a Big Impact

[akermandeniz · 7/10 · 9 October 2021]

Now that is quite something! Finally a beautiful, imaginative, and allegorical short film from Pixar. Probably, the best in the series.

One Great Short

[Percivalx · 10/10 · 23 April 2007]

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!

One Man Band

[jboothmillard · 7/10 · 12 September 2010]

Once again there was a short animated film from Pixar before the main Disney computer animated feature in the cinema, Cars. This one sees a busker on a stage, small, playing all his instruments hoping to get some money put in his cap. Along comes a little peasant girl ready to put her shiny gold penny in the near piazza water fountain, when the busker spots her and starts playing to tempt her to give it to him. Across the street however starts playing another busker with his assortment of string instruments, and the girl goes towards him to be tempted to cough up the cash. This need for attention from the little girl and for the penny is becoming a musical feud, and after a humorous rivalry the girl drops her coin into the nearby drain. The little girl is upset and wants her money back, but neither busker has a penny to give her, so she instead takes a violin off the second busker. She starts playing badly and trying to tune it, and she eventually plays well, and she ends up getting a whole sack full of coins. It looks like she might give the two buskers a coin each, but she instead tosses them both into the above high bird bath, and the film ends with them clambering on each other to get them. With some good music, amusing moments, and the same sense of heart has been put into a simple but affective tale for all the family to enjoy. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Short Animated Film. Very good!

if you like one man bands this is for you

[katelockett2 · 10/10 · 12 January 2007]

WELL Personally I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT BECAUSE ONE MAN BANDS ARE MY LIFE. AND SO IS DAN THE ONE MAN BAND. but anyway. its such a amazing film because its all about a big beefy man with his own band and he just trots around all day with his little musical instrument. one day i want to be just like him and become famous and have a film made about me doing this. it is such a in depth film on the thoughts and feelings of people like me and how they feel about playing on there own with their accordian and oboes etc. it really hits the nail on the head and i personally devour this film as it is exactly the kind of film i like watching.

The story let's the animation down.

[CubsandCulture · 7/10 · 1 January 2021]

There's a couple of funny beats in this story; it moves fast and holds the attention. But there's really nothing unexpected in it once the scenario is set-up. It is a real pity as well because the Medieval trappings of the short are fun and stand out in the Pixar catalog for being "period."

Great

[Polaris_DiB · 10/10 · 11 July 2006]

I don't think people really pay attention to Pixar shorts as something other than a bonus to Pixar features (this one coming before Cars), but these things are really great, even standalone. A lot of Pixar shorts involve a theme of personal struggle, usually for recognition or comfort in an empty or uncaring world. They tend to involve smaller characters that are lonely and helpless, but learn something in their struggle.

This one is a fun mixture of those themes, involving two competing one-man-bands (or, rather, a one man band and a one man orchestra) who are hunting for the only available coin in an empty plaza... held by a little girl who wants the coin to go far. As the competition heats up they get further and further off track of what they're doing, ultimately fumbling in a predictable direction but one that is still wonderfully poignant.

Another magical thing about Pixar shorts is that few of them have any dialog, thus showing character through action and expression. This one is great at that approach, and has a great musical score to back it up.

I hope someday Pixar releases a DVD of just their shorts so that people can regard them away from their feature presentations. They really are great on their own.

--PolarisDiB

One Man Band musically tries to impress but is as memorable as a flat note.

[TheMovieDiorama · 5/10 · 14 July 2019]

The beauty of Pixar's animated shorts, is their ability to emanate innovation and creativity. A chance for the team to experiment with various techniques. We saw it in the evolutionary 'Geri's Game' and the musically engrossing 'Boundin'. So then we come to One Man Band, a short involving two varyingly different one man bands trying to earn a coin from a young girl. A storyboard absent of any dialogue, focusing on musical implementation and pantomime to provide a narrative backbone. It's Giaccino's short as much as it is the studio's, with the differing clashes of instrumental compositions exhuming the composer's natural fluidity in producing scores. The brass and percussion tonally challenging the strings and woodwind, to then culminate into a bittersweet symphony of obvious storytelling.

The character flavour comes from the instruments, and unfortunately lacks that subtle ingenuity to make the animation in its entirety ever-lasting. The forced humour exposed at the end of the conflicting composition, from the little girl, somewhat diminished the talent that these one man bands had acquired. Never mind the fact that the instruments themselves must've cost a fortune, and the fact they are battling it out for just one gold coin. Its simplicity and lack of characterisation makes this a forgettable short, despite Giaccino's inventive score. Tell you what, if one of them used a triangle, they would've instantly won in my book...

Personal Envelopes

[tedg · 26 June 2006]

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.

The Opposite of Mush

[nycritic · 10/10 · 30 June 2006]

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.

Swan Song

[jldmp1 · 8/10 · 27 June 2006]

Unfortunately, the theater's projection screen ruined the animation nuances -- strangely, "Cars" didn't suffer the same way. So this should be better suited to the DVD medium. Think of it as a high-tech nod to Melies.

As for the metaphor, it's a Pixar jab at the big studios. This is a reminder that little Pixar doesn't need frippery to succeed. The competition only offers bells and whistles; Pixar offers core values first. Notice that the 'big guys' don't understand why they haven't won the 'gold coin'.

Sadly, this is the end of Pixar as an uncompromising entity. The Disney deal will probably spell an inexorable slide into mediocrity.

Greed vs. passion

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 1 June 2015]

This is a 5-minute animated short film from Pixar that was also nominated for an Oscar, but lost to the entry with the longest runtime that year. The story is pretty simple. We do not have one one man band in this film, no, we have two. They are fighting for a little girl's affection, or I should probably say golden coin. Who's gonna prevail? Find out for yourself. The animation is pretty good (obviously a given with Pixar), quite a decent watch with the costumes etc. as well and the ending is funny too. Other than that that (and the priceless look on the girl's face when her coin is lost), I really only found it mediocre. But it's not bad either, so certainly worth a watch for animation lovers. Oh and for music lovers, for the tunes in here are pretty nice. But the music also had to be good as all the focus is on this aspect with no people talking. By the way, one of the writer/director duo won an Academy Award for "Brave" not too long ago and the other is enjoying a pretty prolific career too. You can see glimpses of their talent in this short movie. Recommended.

One man band review

[maddiebuggie · 9/10 · 21 June 2020]

This is a silly and fun short. It about two guys one are one man band which means they do everything themself get into a competition with each other. The music is about average. The animation is really good and well done. The characters, character development, storyline and plot are all really good. They did a good job on it. This is super family friendly. Everyone no matter the age they are can watch this short film. I highly recommend everyone watch this short film.

It has a good sense of humor. Don't miss the last scene!

[MK_Movie_Reviews · 8/10 · 23 August 2021]

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.

hilarious!

[dragonicefeather · 9/10 · 21 January 2018]

I am a band student, and this short basically sums up the arguments between band and orchestra. Two buskers fight over being one-men bands and winning a little girls coin, while in the end, the girl wins way more than either of them. The first man is using wind and percussion instruments, while the second is using string. Its a playoff between these two, with funny little accidents and alot of beautiful music!

Worst Pixar short.

[AnonymousbutDilpreet002 · 3/10 · 23 August 2020]

The little girl was the only likable character in the whole film. But in the end, she lost her human qualities as well. What was the end trying to say, really? I felt bad watching it, don't know for whom as I really don't like any of the three characters. But the ending is very sad.

Great Short ! ~

[ichocolat · 4 September 2007]

The short is so wonderful! I can not remember in what movie this short is in, but even now I can still remember the short. The graphics is superb, with great attention to details to the characters and scenery. Kudos Pixar! Even thought he short is very short (thus the term short, d'oh), it is very entertaining. When I watched his short in the cinema, the crowd enjoyed this short very much that the cinema roared with laughter. It almost felt like watching your favorite team scored a goal in a football game.

This is an experiment by Pixar. There are other shorts made by the animation giant like the short about a group of birds sitting on an electric wire, and another short about a bear (or is a penguin? Sorry, can't remember what it is actually) wanting to and find his girlfriend but ended up trapped in the snow globe. Both are two examples of the shorts made. Sorry though, because I forgot both the titles to the shorts I mentioned above.

One of my absolute favourites from Pixar

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 1 February 2012]

I have always loved Pixar, and One Man Band is one of my favourites of theirs. For me, it is a perfect example of the short film being better than the film it is shown with, in this case it was Cars which I still like but consider it one of Pixar's weakest. Back to One Man Band, as is the case with all of Pixar's work it is gorgeously animated, with vibrant backgrounds, cute character designs and a sense of whimsy about it. The music is absolutely wonderful, as are the genuinely funny visual gags and musical sparring, in fact I was pleasantly surprised by how much there was too see and hear in such a short duration(4 minutes)and the story is told with plenty of charm and heart and moves swiftly. The characters are great, especially the lead character. True the little girl is a brat, but you learn to warm to her. Overall, a brilliant short film and one of my favourites. 10/10 Bethany Cox

2 one man bands in 1 short.

[emasterslake · 8/10 · 12 June 2006]

This is different from the other Pixar shorts in a way. For instance it's taken place in a peasant village during the olden days.

There's a One Band Guy trying to attract a crowd and get some doubloons.

No one to be seen except for a kid with a doubloon.

So he performs some catchy lyrics to get the kid's attention and hoping to get the doubloon.

But another One Band guy comes by and starts performing his style of music, also hoping to get the doubloon.

Eventually the 2 one band guys start competing each other by playing music or trying to look more impressive than the other.

There's not much to say about it, so I won't give away the ending, since it's a short film.But one thing similar to the other shorts, is no dialog but contains a very simple and funny plot. Great animation and probably one of the best shorts yet.

You're able to see this for yourself on the Cars DVD.

Still retains it charm

[Rectangular_businessman · 8/10 · 24 February 2024]

I remember seeing this short by the first time almost 20 years ago.

After a recent rewatch, I can tell One Man Band still retains its charm.

Even when modern technology has allowed far more impressive feats in animated movies and videogames, many of these works feel like empty spectacles devoid of heart compared with what Pixar was doing while they were still at the height of their game, managing to create pretty good stuff out of pretty simple concepts.

And this short is quite simple story-wise. Very direct to the point, with simple gags. But it is also pretty effective, having a certain timeless feel which allows it to be pretty enjoyable almost 20 years later after its original release.

And it probably will be still enjoyable to watch in another 20 years.

I miss the old Pixar, able to create these simple, yet pretty wonderful works.