I, Pet Goat II is a 2012 Canadian CGI short film written, directed, produced and edited by Louis Lefebvre, which has gained notoriety since its release due its heavy use of esoteric symbolism, some of which is rather cryptic, inspiring plenty of videos and theories concerning its true meaning.
This animation features a heavy commentary on American post 9-11 society and politics, alternating them with plenty of religious and occult imagery, all taking place in an eerie apocalyptic setting.
The title is a reference to The Pet Goat (often erroneously referred to as My Pet Goat), the book children at Emma Booker School in Sarasota, Florida read to President Bush at the time of the September 11 attacks which ends stating "more to come".
It also has become notorious for being reposted several times on different Youtube channels.
This web animation contains examples of:
- Allegorical Character: All the characters featured on this short, with the sole exception of George Bush and Barack Obama, seem to be interpreted as different kind of allegories.
- All There in the Manual: The names of the characters are never stated on the short itself, but used to be included on the official website, which also included a small description about them.
- Dem Bones: One of the characters is a living skeleton named "Skullduggery".
- Dunce Cap: George Bush appears wearing one.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Some scenes (Particularly the classroom scene featuring Bush and Obama) feature some small hidden symbols in the background.
- Gaia's Lament: The earth is depicted as a frozen wasteland.
- Green Aesop: The setting is a frozen wasteland, which is often interpreted as commentary about climate change and the enviromental destruction taking place in our current age.
- Latino Is Brown: A character named Juan "Pepito" (With quotation marks) is depicted in such manner.
- Le Film Artistique: Has several elements from those kind of films, namely the almost complete lack of dialogue, the Mind Screw elements and the heavy symbolism.
- Number of the Beast: The "pet goat" has a 666 bar-code on its forehead.
- Secondary Character Title: The titular goat only appears at the very beginning of the short.
- Silence Is Golden: The only spoken line of dialogue uttered in the short is George Bush trying (and failing) to pronounce the old adage "Fool me once, shame on you".
- Take That!: The portrayal this short gives to former president Bush and former president Obama is anything but flattering, depicting both as puppets of some kind of evil force.
- This Loser Is You: The titular goat from the very first scene is often interpreted to be a symbol for the viewer: Just like the goat is hypnotized and imprisoned, it is basically a way of saying viewers are brainwashed and kept under control by their oppressors.
