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.
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.