Lisa Simpson

Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. She is the middle child and most accomplished of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa was born as a character in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' short " Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening created and designed her while waiting to meet James L. Brooks. Groening had been invited to pitch a series of shorts based on his comic ''Life in Hell'', but instead decided to create a new set of characters. He named the older Simpson daughter after his younger sister Lisa Groening Bartlett. After appearing on ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' for three years, the Simpson family were moved to their own series on Fox, which debuted on December 17, 1989.

Intelligent, kind and passionate about the planet and all living things, Lisa Simpson, at nine years old, is the second child of Homer and Marge, the younger sister of Bart, and the older sister of Maggie. Lisa's high intellect and left-wing political stance creates a barrier between her and other children her age; therefore she is a bit of a loner and social outcast. Lisa is a vegetarian, a strong environmentalist, a feminist, and a Buddhist. Lisa's character develops many times over the course of the show: she becomes a vegetarian in season 7 and converts to Buddhism in season 13. A strong liberal and activist for peace, equality and the environment, Lisa advocates for a variety of political causes (e.g. standing with the Tibetan independence movement) which usually sets her against most of the people in Springfield. However, she can also be somewhat intolerant of opinions that differ from her own, often refusing to consider alternative perspectives and showing a feeling of self-righteousness. In her free time, Lisa enjoys many hobbies such as reading and playing the baritone saxophone, despite her father's annoyance regarding the latter. She has appeared in other media relating to ''The Simpsons'' – including video games, ''The Simpsons Movie'', The Simpsons Ride, commercials and comic books – and inspired a line of merchandise.

Yeardley Smith originally tried out for the role of Bart, while Nancy Cartwright (who was later cast as the voice for Bart) tried out for Lisa. Producers considered Smith's voice too high for a boy, so she was given the role of Lisa. In the ''Tracey Ullman Show'' shorts, Lisa was something of a "female Bart" who mirrored her brother's mischief, but as the series progressed she became a liberal voice of reason which has drawn both praise and criticism from fans of the show. Because of her unusual pointed hairstyle, many animators consider Lisa the most difficult ''Simpsons'' character to draw.

''TV Guide'' ranked her 11th (tied with Bart) on their list of the "Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time". Her environmentalism has been especially well-received; several episodes featuring her have won Genesis and Environmental Media Awards, including a special "board of directors Ongoing Commitment Award" in 2001. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals included Lisa on their list of the "Most Animal-Friendly TV Characters of All Time". Yeardley Smith won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in 1992 and Lisa and her family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2000.

Role in ''The Simpsons''

''The Simpsons'' uses a floating timeline in which the characters do not have physical ages; as such, Lisa is always depicted as 7–8 years old. The show itself is perpetually set in the year of broadcast (except for occasional flashbacks and flashforwards). In several episodes, events have been linked to specific time periods, although this timeline has been contradicted in subsequent episodes. Lisa's year of birth is given in "Lisa's First Word" (season 4, 1992) as 1984, during the Summer Olympics. The episode " That '90s Show" ( season 19, 2008), however, contradicts much of the established backstory; for example, it presents Homer and Marge as being childless in the late 1990s. Lisa is a lover of music, with jazz as her favorite genre; she specifically singles out Miles Davis's 1957 album ''Birth of the Cool'' as her favorite album. She enjoys and excels at playing the saxophone and became friends with jazz musician Bleeding Gums Murphy, whom she regards as an idol. Murphy helps pull Lisa out of her depression in " Moaning Lisa" (season 1, 1990). She is later deeply saddened by Murphy's death in 'Round Springfield" ( season 6, 1995).

Lisa has had a few brief relationships with boys, including Ralph Wiggum in "I Love Lisa" (the fifteenth episode of season 4, 1993), Nelson Muntz in "Lisa's Date with Density" (season 8, 1996) and Colin in ''The Simpsons Movie'' (2007). Bart's best friend Milhouse Van Houten has a crush on her, but despite dropping unsubtle hints about his feelings, he has been unsuccessful in winning her affection. Her voice actor Yeardley Smith said Muntz would make a good match for Lisa. In 2019, ''Simpsons'' showrunner Al Jean said he saw Lisa as being "possibly polyamorous" in the future. In the 2011 Season 23 episode 9 episode Holidays of Future Passed Lisa is shown holding hands with an unnamed dark-haired woman in a photo, and then shown in a second photo where she is holding hands with two different women at once, suggesting polyamory; she later ends up with Milhouse. However, this episode is non-canon.

Lisa is the most intellectual member of the Simpson family (she has an IQ of 159), and many episodes of the series focus on her fighting for various causes. Lisa is often the focus of episodes with "a real moral or philosophical point", which according to former writer David S. Cohen is because "you really buy her as caring about it."Cohen, David S.; Groening, Matt; Meyer, George; Michels, Pete; Scully, Mike; Smith; Yeardley. (2005). Commentary for "Lisa the Skeptic", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season'' VD 20th Century Fox. Lisa's political convictions are generally liberal and she often contests other's views. She is a vegetarian, feminist, environmentalist and a supporter of gay rights and the Free Tibet movement. In a special Christmas message for the UK in 2004 Lisa showed her support for Cornish nationalism, even speaking the Cornish language to get her message across. While supportive of the general ideals of the Christian church in which she was raised, Lisa became a practicing Buddhist in the episode "She of Little Faith" ( season 13, 2001) after she learned about the Noble Eightfold Path. An "End Apartheid Now" poster can be seen on her bedroom door during earlier seasons. She is extremely controlled by her ideals and noble, and she undergoes drastic changes when she or anyone else is immoral, such as renouncing Homer's last name and taking Marge's when she discovers that Homer bet against her in a crossword puzzle competition.

Character

Creation

Matt Groening conceived Lisa and the rest of the Simpson family in 1986 in the lobby of producer James L. Brooks's office. Groening had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts for ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' and had intended to present an adaptation of his ''Life in Hell'' comic strip. When he realized that animating ''Life in Hell'' would require him to rescind publication rights, Groening went in another direction, hurriedly sketching his version of a dysfunctional family, named after members of his own family. Lisa was named after Groening's younger sister, but little else was based on her. In ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' shorts, Lisa displayed little of the intelligence for which she later became known. She was more of a "female Bart" and was originally described as simply the "middle child", without much personality.

Lisa made her debut with the rest of the Simpson family on April 19, 1987, in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' short " Good Night". In 1989, the shorts were adapted into ''The Simpsons'', a half-hour series on the Fox Broadcasting Company.

Design

The entire Simpson family was designed to be easily recognized in silhouette. The family was crudely drawn, because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up; instead, they just traced over his drawings. Lisa's physical features are generally unique. In some early episodes, minor background characters occasionally had a similar hairline. However, in the later seasons, no character other than Maggie shares her hairline. While designing Lisa, Groening "couldn't be bothered to even think about girls' hairstyles". At the time, Groening was primarily drawing in black and white; when designing Lisa and Maggie, he "just gave them this kind of spiky starfish hair style, not thinking that they would eventually be drawn in color".Groening, Matt. (2006). "A Bit From the Animators", illustrated commentary for " All Singing, All Dancing", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season'' VD 20th Century Fox.

To draw Lisa's head and hair, most of the show's animators use what they call the "three-three-two arrangement". It begins with a circle, with two curving lines (one vertical, one horizontal) intersecting in the middle to indicate her eyeline. The vertical line continues outside of the circle to create one hair point, with two more added towards the back of her head. Three more points are then added in front (in the direction Lisa is facing), with two more behind it. Several ''Simpsons'' animators, including Pete Michels and David Silverman, consider Lisa the most difficult ''Simpsons'' character to draw. Silverman explains that "her head is so abstract" due to her hairstyle.Silverman, David; Reardon, Jim; Groening, Matt. (2005). Illustrated commentary for "Treehouse of Horror V", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season'' VD 20th Century Fox.

Voice

While the roles of Homer and Marge were given to Dan Castellaneta and Julie Kavner because they were already a part of the ''Tracey Ullman Show'' cast, the producers decided to hold casting for the roles of Bart and Lisa. Nancy Cartwright intended to audition for the role of Lisa, but disliked the character's bland description—Lisa was described simply as the "middle child"—and read for the role of Bart instead. Casting director Bonita Pietila brought Yeardley Smith in for an audition after seeing her performing in the play ''Living on Salvation Street''. Smith was hesitant to audition for an animated series, but her agent had persuaded her to give it a try. Smith originally auditioned for the role of Bart but Pietila believed her voice was too high. Smith later recalled: "I always sounded too much like a girl, I read two lines as Bart and they said, 'Thanks for coming!'" Pietila offered Smith the role of Lisa instead.

Smith and the show's writers worked to give Lisa a more defined personality, and she has developed greatly during the series. In her 2000 memoir '' My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy'', Cartwright wrote: "with the brilliant wit of the writers and the wry, in-your-eye, honest-to-a-fault interpretation, Yeardley Smith has made Lisa a bright light of leadership, full of compassion and competence beyond her years. Lisa Simpson is the kind of child we not only want our children to be but also the kind of child we want ''all'' children to be. But, at the time, on ''The Tracey Ullman Show'', she was just an animated eight-year-old kid who had no personality."

Lisa is the only regular character voiced by Smith, who raises the pitch of her voice slightly for the role. In some earlier episodes she provided some of Maggie's squeaks and occasional speaking parts, and has voiced other characters on very rare occasions. Usually they are derivative of Lisa, such as Lisa Bella in "Last Tap Dance in Springfield" ( season 11, 2000) and Lisa, Jr. in " Missionary: Impossible". (season 11, 2000)

Despite the fame of Lisa Simpson, Smith is rarely recognized in public, which she does not mind. She said, "it's wonderful to be in the midst of all this hype about the show, and people enjoying the show so much, and to be totally a fly on the wall; people never recognize me solely from my voice." In a 2009 interview with ''The Guardian'' she commented that "It's the best job ever. I have nothing but gratitude for the amount of freedom ''The Simpsons'' has bought me in my life." Although Smith received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in 1992, she considers it unimportant, saying "there's part of me that feels it wasn't even a real Emmy." The award is a Creative Arts prize not awarded during the primetime telecast and, at the time, a juried award without nominations. Still, Smith considers her work on the show a success. "If I had to be associated with one character in fiction," she said, "I will always be thrilled that it was Lisa Simpson." Matt Groening has described Smith as being very similar to Lisa: "Yeardley has strong moral views about her character. Some lines are written for Lisa that Yeardley reads and says, 'No, I wouldn't say that.'" Former ''Simpsons'' writer Jay Kogen praised her performance on the show, particularly in the episode "Lisa's Substitute", as able "to move past comedy to something really strong and serious and dramatic."

Until 1998, Smith was paid $30,000 per episode. A pay dispute erupted in 1998, during which Fox threatened to replace the six main voice actors with new actors, going as far as preparing for casting of new voices. The dispute was soon resolved, and Smith received $125,000 per episode until 2004 when the voice actors sought an increase to $360,000 per episode. The issue was resolved a month later, and Smith earned $250,000 per episode. New salary negotiations took place in 2008, and the voice actors currently receive approximately $400,000 per episode. Three years later, with Fox threatening to cancel the series unless production costs were cut, Smith and the other cast members accepted a 30 percent pay cut, down to just over $300,000 per episode.

Development

In ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' shorts, Lisa was something of a "female Bart": equally mischievous but lacking unique traits.Mirkin, David. (2004). Commentary for " Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season'' VD 20th Century Fox. As the series progressed, Lisa began to develop into a more intelligent and more emotional character. She demonstrates her intellect in the 1990 episode "Krusty Gets Busted