Yellow Cake is an animated short film by Nick Cross.
The story follows the interactions between a town of mice and a town of cats, which changes forever after the latter learn about one of the mice's favorite foods: yellow cake.
It can be watched here
.
- Allegorical Character:
- The mice represent developing nations that are ruthlessly exploited by colonial powers and their own leaders to make profits. Baker Town is largely portrayed as a relatively idyllic rural town with everyone being happy until a cat comes over and tries to eat everyone, only stopping when the Mayor offers it some of the titutal cake. Said mayor initially does this as a way to spare the town from the cat's wrath, but over time allows himself to succumb to greed and treats his citizens as slaves in the name of bigger profits, leading to a revolution where he is overthrown and executed. The mice attempt to get back at the cats by putting a bomb inside one of the cakes, only for the cats to respond with massive retribution, reducing New Baker Town to a wasteland, mirroring how parts of the Middle East has been devastated by The War on Terror.
- The cats represent imperial powers that exploit developing nations for profit while the majority of the citizenry is unaware of the human cost of their wealth. The initial servitude of the mice is enforced by a single cat who sells the Yellow Cakes at his shop, mirroring how corporations are often the ones directly exploiting less developed countries so they can minimize labor expenses. The majority of the cats are oblivious to how much suffering the mice of Baker Town are undergoing until one of the mice bombs a fancy dinner, leading to the cats invading and demolishing New Baker Town out of paranoia.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The cat military vs Baker Town at the end. Needless to say the cats win easily.
- Disproportionate Retribution: The cats respond to the mice's bomb attack by sending their military to wipe out Baker Town.
- Downer Ending: New Baker Town is reduced to a wasteland by the cat military's attack, and its implied that the cat civilians will never realize how much they are hurting the mice.
- The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: The mice repay their mayor for selling them out by burning him at the stake, then put a time bomb inside on of the cakes to get back at the cats. Unfortunately for the mice, the cats respond to this with even greater force than the mice could hope to repel.
- Take That!: The cats are meant to be the worst of Eagleland, as the final seconds of the short have the video (now meant to mirror a television) shifting through various films, shows, and sports that match up with the United States (namely a football game, a crime drama, a kid's show, and a comedian act).