The spontaneous creation of a jingle during tough times; that jingle turned into a song. That song turned into an animated story about friendship and a positive outcome. Oregon-based animator and filmmaker Steve Cowden created this story about a dog and a stray cat after his son and twin brother began playing an impromptu piano tune and singing the title lyrics “Chocolate Cake and Ice Cream.”
“The silly words seemed to lighten our heavy hearts,” Cowden explains. The creative moment happened in December of 2019, born from grief as the family coped with the unexpected death of Cowden’s nephew.
The animation, a sweet and wish-fulfilling story, shares how a dog and cat meet in a park and, despite being separated by circumstances out of their control, eventually get to spend all of their time together.
Watch more feel-good animated stories on TKSST, including:
• Omelette by Madeline Sharafian
• The Present, a short animation by Jacob Frey
• The Girl and The Cloud
• Joy and Heron
• Unapeeling, an animated short by Amber Baris
• Kitbull, Pixar’s hand-drawn, Oscar-nominated SparkShorts animation
This Webby award-winning video collection exists to help teachers, librarians, and families spark kid wonder and curiosity. TKSST features smarter, more meaningful content than what's usually served up by YouTube's algorithms, and amplifies the creators who make that content.
Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.