The Good, the Bart, and the Loki (2021)
Directed by David Silverman
No — The Good, the Bart, and the Loki is not woke, scoring 7 out of 100 on our wokeness meter.
There is a particular melancholy in watching a four-minute promotional short carry the cultural weight of two franchises on its back.
Consciousness Markers
Lisa is chosen to wield Mjolnir and become Thor, echoing Jane Foster's ascension, but it functions as a Marvel in-joke rather than a feminist statement.
Dawnn Lewis voices Ravonna Renslayer, a Black character carried over from the MCU, but the casting is unremarked and incidental to a four-minute promotional parody.
The short is a gag-driven parody with no moral instruction or preaching; its only 'message' is brand promotion.
No LGBTQ+ characters, themes, or subtext appear anywhere in the short.
No engagement with race, racism, or racial identity; the Springfield cast is treated as a default ensemble.
No environmental themes or climate messaging of any kind.
This is a Disney+ corporate synergy vehicle designed to promote the Loki series; it is the opposite of anti-capitalist, as critics noted it embodies the company 'at its coldest and most corporate.'
No body-positive themes or messaging present.
No neurodivergent characters or themes are depicted.
No historical revisionism; the short is a present-day crossover parody with no historical subject matter.
Why it received this score
There is a particular melancholy in watching a four-minute promotional short carry the cultural weight of two franchises on its back. The Good, the Bart, and the Loki arrived on Disney+ alongside the fifth episode of Loki, a placement that announces its purpose without embarrassment. Loki is banished to Springfield. Bart takes him in. Lisa is shipped off to Asgard, finds Mjolnir, and returns leading a parade of neighbors dressed as Avengers. Three post-credits scenes are crammed into a running time shorter than most television cold opens. The craftsmanship is real. The animators did their jobs. The result remains a piece of brand management wearing the skin of a beloved cartoon family, and critics at the time noted the company had rarely looked colder or more corporate.
On the matter of social consciousness, the short offers very little to classify. Dawnn Lewis voices Ravonna Renslayer, carried over from the Marvel series, and the casting passes without comment, a supporting role in a gag. Lisa taking up the hammer nods toward Jane Foster's ascension in the films, but it plays as an inside joke about sibling parallels, not as a statement about who gets to be a hero. There is no engagement with race, no environmental messaging, no body politics, no neurodivergent characterization, no historical subject matter to revise. The Simpsons ensemble functions as a default, and the short never asks it to be anything else.
What remains is the absence of instruction. Nobody lectures. Nobody learns a lesson about society. The only sermon being delivered is the value of a subscription, and it is delivered with a smile and a Norse accent. As a specimen of progressive cultural messaging, this is a near-empty vessel. As a specimen of corporate synergy, it is remarkably efficient. We score it accordingly, with the flat affect of a sommelier presented a wine that turns out to be sparkling water in a very expensive bottle.
Analysis generated by our Consciousness Algorithm
Synopsis
Loki is banished from Asgard once again and must face his toughest opponents yet: the Simpsons and Springfield’s mightiest heroes. The God of Mischief teams up with Bart Simpson in the ultimate crossover event paying tribute to the Marvel Cinematic Universe of superheroes and villains.
Questions about The Good, the Bart, and the Loki
Is The Good, the Bart, and the Loki woke?
No — The Good, the Bart, and the Loki is not woke, scoring 7 out of 100 on our wokeness meter. That earns it a verdict of Ultra Based.
Does The Good, the Bart, and the Loki have any woke elements?
Very few. None of the 10 markers reaches 30, the level where a marker counts as present; the highest is Feminist Agenda at 15.
How does The Good, the Bart, and the Loki compare to other 2021 movies?
It ranks #201 of the 242 films from 2021 we've scored; their average is 23. The wokest is The Forever Purge (83).
How is the Woke Score calculated?
An AI-assisted process researches the film and its reception, scores it 0–100 on ten markers, then combines those into one 0–100 Woke Score. It measures a specific set of 2020s cultural themes, not film quality.