Editing Lisa Simpson (section)

===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,<ref name="The Age">{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/02/27/1046064146568.html |title=D'oh, you're the voice |access-date=August 18, 2007 |date=February 27, 2003 |author=Lee, Luaine |work=The Age |location=Melbourne}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Carty>{{harvnb|Cartwright|2000 |pp=35–40}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1017238.stm |title=Bart's voice tells all |access-date=May 16, 2007 |date=November 10, 2000 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Casting director [[Bonita Pietila]] brought [[Yeardley Smith]] in for an audition after seeing her performing in the play ''Living on Salvation Street''.<ref name="Freeman"/><ref name="Miranda"/> Smith was hesitant to audition for an animated series, but her agent had persuaded her to give it a try.<ref name="Happy"/> 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!'"<ref name="Miranda">{{cite news |title= She who laughs last |date= December 8, 2007 |page=8E |work= [[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Daily Telegraph]] |first= Charles |last=Miranda }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1565538/20070725/story.jhtml |title= 'Simpsons' Trivia, From Swearing Lisa To "Burns-Sexual" Smithers |access-date= July 29, 2007 |date= October 26, 2008 |author= Larry Carroll |publisher= MTV |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071220140402/http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1565538/20070725/story.jhtml |archive-date= December 20, 2007 }}</ref> Pietila offered Smith the role of Lisa instead.<ref name="Happy">{{cite news |title= She's happy as Lisa Simpson, although she'd like more d'oh |date= April 4, 2004 |work= [[The Spokesman-Review]] |agency= Associated Press |author= Heidi Vogt}}</ref>
[[File:Yeardley Smith 2012.png|thumb|upright|left |alt=A woman with blond-brown hair smiles, her eyes closed slightly.|Lisa's voice actress [[Yeardley Smith]]]]
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."<ref name=Carty/>

Lisa is the only regular character voiced by Smith, who raises the pitch of her voice slightly for the role.<ref>{{cite news |title=She who laughs last |date=December 8, 2007 |page=8E |work= The Daily Telegraph |author=Charles Miranda}}</ref> In some earlier episodes she provided some of Maggie's squeaks and occasional speaking parts, and has voiced other characters on very rare occasions.<ref name=com>{{cite video |people=Smith, Yeardley |year=2007 |title=Audio commentary for [[The Simpsons Movie]] |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> Usually they are derivative of Lisa, such as Lisa Bella in "[[Last Tap Dance in Springfield]]" ([[The Simpsons (season 11)|season 11]], 2000) and Lisa, Jr. in "[[Missionary: Impossible]]". (season 11, 2000)<ref>[[Ron Hauge|Hauge, Ron]]. (2008). Commentary for "[[Missionary: Impossible]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Eleventh Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref>

{{quote box |width=30em |bgcolor=transparent |align=right |quote=It's a happy fluke. When she was cast back in 1987, I just liked the sound of her voice. She's also a great actress. In general, people who make their living doing voices on cartoons aren't always great for us. Most cartoons want things peppy and cartoony. Yeardley can go through moments of great emotion and wring it for all she's worth. |salign=right |source=—[[Matt Groening]] on Smith's vocal style<ref name=love/>}}

Despite Lisa's fame, 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."<ref name="Sheridan">{{cite news |title=Meet the Simpsons |date=May 6, 2004 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|Daily Express]] |author=Peter Sheridan}}</ref> 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."<ref name=guard>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jan/16/lisa-simpson-yeardley-smith-film |title=From Springfield to Tinseltown |date=January 16, 2009 |author=Lisa Marks |work=The Guardian |access-date=February 16, 2009 |location=London}}</ref> Although Smith received a [[Primetime Emmy Award]] for [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance|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 Emmy Award|Creative Arts]] prize not awarded during the primetime telecast and, at the time, a juried award without nominations.<ref name="Happy"/> 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."<ref name="Happy"/> 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.'"<ref name=love>{{cite news |title=Yeardley Smith Confesses: "I Love Lisa" |work=Simpsons Illustrated Magazine, Volume 1, Number 5 |date=Spring 1992 |author=L.W. Michion |pages=20–23}}</ref> 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."<ref name=love/>

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.<ref name=Glaister/> 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.<ref name=Glaister>{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/02/1080544690429.html |title=Simpsons actors demand bigger share |access-date=October 26, 2008 |date=April 3, 2004 |author=Glaister, Dan |work=The Age |location=Melbourne}}</ref> The issue was resolved a month later,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/simpsons-cast-goes-back-to-work/ |title='Simpsons' Cast Goes Back To Work |access-date=September 21, 2008 |date=May 1, 2004 |publisher=[[CBS News]]}}</ref> and Smith earned $250,000 per episode.<ref name="Sheridan"/> New salary negotiations took place in 2008, and the voice actors currently receive approximately $400,000 per episode.<ref>{{cite news |title=Simpsons cast sign new pay deal |work=BBC News |date=June 3, 2008 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7434296.stm |access-date=October 26, 2008}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |last=Block |first=Alex Ben |title='The Simpsons' Renewed for Two More Seasons |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/simpsons-renewed-two-more-seasons-245748 |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |access-date=October 15, 2011 |date=October 7, 2011}}</ref>