Coin Operated is maybe one of the most nostalgic yet playful short films ever made. Nicholas Arioli, the director of Coin Operated, has done a great job representing the life experiences from childhood till old age in barely five minutes.

The short film opens with the representation of a space shuttle roaming around the sky, and the scene fades into a mother and son walking down the street while the kid has a toy space shuttle in his hand. The kid is dressed up like an astronaut that shows his love for space and exploring it.

On their way, the boy finds a space shuttle ride – a coin-operated space shuttle ride – the happiness in his eyes can be seen clearly, even though it is an animation. He rides the space shuttle ride with the thought of flying away until he realizes it wouldn’t work like it. Right when the boy is losing hope, we watch him gain it back after an idea pops into his mind from a poster of lemonade. We get to see the boy selling lemonade and collecting money his whole life, for one dream – to go to space.

In just five minutes, we get to experience childhood, the dreams, and the requirements to fulfill those dreams. The coin-operated machine is actually the visual representation of financial stability and money required for any dream to come true.

The short film is a masterpiece from the message it conveys to the bright visuals and the finely represented expressions of the boy. The shuttle represents the dreams one holds on to for life with the hope that one day it will come true, the lemon stand represents the American Dream, and the shuttle ride represents how money is required to fuel our dreams to make them come true.

You can watch the film here

If you are interested in other films by CG Meetup, check out their YouTube Channel here