Allison Taylor

Allison Taylor is a student at Springfield Elementary. Allison is just as smart as Lisa, but a year younger (having skipped a grade). Like Lisa, she too is a talented saxophone player.

Biography
She is smart, innocent, and kind. She is an excellent saxophone player and has won enough trophies and awards to fill a room. She has proven to be as smart as Lisa, but in a diorama contest both girls easily lost to Ralph. After the contest, both girls invite Ralph to play with them.

History
When Allison Taylor first comes to Springfield Elementary, Lisa is happy to have a friend as smart as her. Eventually, Lisa becomes jealous of having a true rival in school. Regardless, Lisa tries to be her friend. To Lisa's chagrin, Allison wins first chair saxophone in the school band, Ralph starts asking her for answers, the other girls bully her instead of Lisa, and Allison's father thinks Lisa is juvenile in comparison. Tensions climax during Springfield Elementary's annual "Diorama-rama" competition. Allison makes a diorama of The Telltale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe, showing the protagonist going insane while a section of the floor "beats" mechanically. With Bart's help and prodding, Lisa sabotages Allison's entry by switching Allison's diorama with one containing a cow's bloody heart. When Principal Skinner sees the result, he criticizes the diorama and questions Allison's overall qualifications. Lisa, overcome with guilt, confesses to the switch. However, Lisa and Allison still lose the competition to Ralph Wiggum, whose diorama consists of a box of Star Wars action figures still in their packaging – objects of sentimental value to Principal Skinner. In the end, Lisa and Allison put aside their differences and become friends.

Allison can be later seen as a background character in many episodes revolving around the Springfield children, particularly Lard of the Dance, Wild Barts Can't Be Broken, Last Tap Dance in Springfield, and Little Orphan Millie.

She is an online friend of Taffy's, as seen on her blog.

Friends?
It appears that sometime after "Lisa's Rival", she and Lisa have an on-off friendship similar to Lisa and Janey's. She is usually seen hanging out with Janey, Sherri and Terri, or Alex Whitney (during her brief cameos). She is also usually seen among those laughing at Lisa whenever she is ridiculed.

In addition to her underrated friendship with Lisa, her genius intellect and talent appear to be underrated as well, as she is rarely seen competing with Lisa or sharing a close friendship with her.

Behind the Laughter
Originally voiced by Winona Ryder, Allison Taylor has subsequently had a few small speaking parts, with her voice provided by Pamela Hayden.

She has appeared in different issues of The Simpsons Comics but is sometimes mis-colored to make her look a bit like Jessica Lovejoy.

Mr. Taylor
Mr. Taylor Mr. Taylor is Allison's father, and they seem to have a healthy relationship. In contrast with Bart and Lisa's relationship with Homer, Mr. Taylor and Allison don't argue or get into fights. They both seem to be smart and have a lot in common with each other. This is likely a contributing factor to Allison's superior intelligence.

Ralph Wiggum
They don't seem to be really friends, but have a small and minor friendship. Allison invited Ralph over to her house to play games at the end of the episode.