Lisa Simpson

Lisa Marie Simpson (born May 9th) is one of the tritagonists of The Simpsons. She is the middle child of Homer Simpson and Marge Simpson, the younger sister of Bart Simpson and the older sister of Maggie Simpson. She was named after a train called Lil' Lisa on her parents' 1st anniversary. She is a charismatic 9-year-old girl, who exceeds the standard achievement of intelligence level of children her age. Not to everyone's surprise, she is also the moral center of her family. In her upbringing, Lisa lacks parental involvement of her parents, which leads to hobbies such as playing saxophones and guitars, riding and caring for horses, and interest in advanced studies. In school, Lisa's popularity is affected by those who view her as a geeky overachiever, which leaves her with only a few friends. She focuses on her goals and strives to reach her potential, and at the age of eight, she is already a member of MENSA with an IQ of 159. In the Tracey Ullman Show shorts, Lisa was more of a mischief and was as equally mischievous as her brother Bart. As the series progressed, Lisa began to develop into a more intelligent and more emotional character with "Krusty Gets Busted" being one of the first episodes where her true intelligence is fully shown. Many episodes focusing on Lisa have an emotional nature, the first one being "Moaning Lisa". The idea for the episode was pitched by James L. Brooks, who had wanted to do an emotional episode where Lisa is sad because the show had done a lot of "jokey episodes".

For a long time, Lisa's saxophone solos were provided by jazz baritone saxophonist Terry Harrington.

In 2001, Lisa received a special "Board of Directors Ongoing Commitment Award" at the Environmental Media Awards. "Lisa the Vegetarian", an episode from the seventh season, won both an Environmental Media Award for "Best Television Episodic Comedy" and a Genesis Award for "Best Television Comedy Series, Ongoing Commitment". Lisa was also listed at number 11 in TV Guide's "Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time." In Japan, the broadcasters of the series found they were able to turn the apparent viewer dislike of the series around by focusing marketing attention on Lisa. Lisa's well-intended but ill-fated struggles to be a voice of reason and a force of good in her family and city stuck a chord with the Japenese. Lisa was the first identified Simpson in the series, being the only character who's name is mentioned in "Good Night."