Lisa Simpsons is one of the most popular and beloved characters from The Simpsons, and she stands out from the rest of the family as she’s more focused on her future, education, and more, but she wasn’t always like that, and the original plan for her wouldn’t have made her a likable character. Created by Matt Groening, The Simpsons started as a series of animated shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987, and after three seasons, it was developed into a half-hour prime time show, making its official debut on Fox in 1989. The Simpsons has been unstoppable ever since and shows no signs of stopping soon, with over 30 seasons and counting and expanding to other media, most notably film and comic books.
The Simpsons follows the adventures of the title family in the fictional town of Springfield, along with those of their closest friends and a couple of enemies, such as Homer’s boss Mr. Burns and Sideshow Bob. The Simpsons family have come a long way from their very first episodes, and they have changed a lot throughout the years, sometimes for worse and others for better. Some characters have developed their own personalities which are very far from what the writers had originally planned for them, as is the case of Lisa Simpson.
Lisa is Homer and Marge’s second child, who since she was a baby has shown superior intelligence to that of her brother, Bart, and of course her father, and has been labeled as the genius of the Simpsons family. Lisa does her best to stay out of trouble and is a lot more responsible than Bart, to the point where she has been tasked with more mature assignments, such as being a babysitter. This has earned Lisa the love of the audience, but the original plan for her was completely different and the opposite from what she is today, as she was, essentially, a female Bart.
In the shorts that made way for The Simpsons as it’s known today, and as explained by showrunner Al Jean (via THR), Lisa was “supposed to be this little hell-raiser like Bart”, but when the characters made the transition to full TV series, the differences between the characters began to emerge. Speaking to EW back in 1991, Matt Groening shared they decided to make Lisa the “intelligent, talented member of the Simpsons”, which in turn made her the one that is “completely overlooked”, though that ultimately adds to her angsty personality. However, there have been a couple of times throughout the show where Lisa has leaned more towards that “female Bart” personality for different reasons – whether to stand out, defend herself, or for revenge, usually against her brother – but she always ends up going back to her good-hearted nature.
It was only natural that the main characters of The Simpsons went through changes when the original shorts were developed into a proper TV show, and Lisa’s change was definitely necessary. The original plan wouldn’t have let Lisa shine and she wouldn’t have had any defining traits, and making her into the smart one of the family made way for a lot of storylines, characters, and important moments not only in Lisa’s life but in her family’s history as well.