''Welcome to the Club'' is an American animated short film based on the television series '' The Simpsons'' produced by Gracie Films and

20th Television Animation 20th Television Animation (formerly Fox Television Animation) is an American animation studio that creates, develops and produces adult animated television series and specials. It is a unit of Disney Television Studios, a subsidiary of Walt Disne ...

, debuting on the streaming service Disney+ on September 8, 2022, and received mixed reviews from critics. Like the previous shorts, it was directed by David Silverman.

Plot

Lisa and Bart approach a castle, and Lisa is excited to become an officially recognized

Disney Princess ''Disney Princess'', also called the ''Princess Line'', is a media franchise and toy line owned by the Walt Disney Company. Created by Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney, the franchise features a lineup of female protagonists who ha ...

. However, Bart turns out to have been a disguise by

Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi or Na ...

to trick Lisa into instead joining forces with the Disney Villains. A musical number is performed by many classic Disney villains, such as Ursula, Cruella de Vil, Captain Hook, Queen of Hearts, Maleficent, Evil Queen (in her witch form), Jafar,

Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...

, Scar and Kaa alongside several Disney prince characters, to try and convince Lisa to become a Disney villain. Lisa then points out that many Disney villains end up dying, to which the villains point out that it's better than living “happily ever after” with a generic Disney prince.

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

interrupts the number, and the short ends with many of the Disney princes forming together the shape of Mickey's head on the floor.

Release

''Welcome to the Club'' was released on

Disney+ Day The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

on September 8, 2022. On September 1, the first promotional poster had been revealed. Another poster was released on the Disney+ Day. Both posters are portraying Lisa Simpson and Ursula from '' The Little Mermaid''.

Cast

* Nancy Cartwright as

Bart Simpson Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional character in the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' ...

and

** Cartwright also voiced

, while he was disguised as Bart * Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson and Snow White * Chris Edgerly as Prince Charming and Disney princes * Dawnn Lewis as Kaa and Ursula * Tress MacNeille as Cruella de Vil, Evil Queen and Queen of Hearts *

Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...

as Captain Hook and Disney princes * Tom Hiddleston as

Reception

John Schwarz of ''Bubbleblabber'' gave ''Welcome to the Club'' a five out of ten stating "The late Pat Carroll is spinning in her grave for this one. Yes, we get another Tom Hiddleston cameo, but really this short is quite skippable. The song, while containing some funny lyrics, abruptly ends and really features no resolve to the initial bit the producers were trying to pull off with Lisa. As cool as it was to see ''The Simpsons'' again after several months off, the shorts are starting to irk me a bit in their execution".

References

External links

* * {{Mickey Mouse in animation Disney+ original films Promotional films The Simpsons short films 2022 short films 2022 animated films 2020s animated short films Films directed by David Silverman Films produced by James L. Brooks Films produced by Matt Groening 2020s English-language films Gracie Films films American animated short films 20th Century Studios short films 2020s American films