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Allison Taylor is a student at Springfield Elementary who is one of Lisa Simpson’s classmates. Allison is just as smart as Lisa, if not even smarter, and is also a year younger (having skipped a grade). Also like Lisa, she too is a talented saxophone player.
Personality[]
In terms of personality, Allison is shown to be bright and intelligent. She is also an excellent saxophone player and has won enough trophies and awards to fill a room. She has proven to be as smart as, or perhaps even smarter than, Lisa, but in a diorama contest both girls easily lost to Ralph (due to Seymour Skinner being a fan of Ralph's Star Wars figurine display). After the contest, both girls invite Ralph to play with them. She's also very friendly to others. Like Lisa, she isn't afraid to sometimes break the rules, as she was among the kids who broke curfew to watch "The Bloodening", though she was not among those caught by the police.
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 (Lisa hopes they will be the best).[2]
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", where she has an actual role in those episodes.
Friends?[]
It appears that sometime after "Lisa's Rival", she and Lisa have an on-off friendship similar to Lisa and Janey Powell's. She is usually seen hanging out with Janey, Valley Mercer, Sherri and Terri, or Alex Whitney (during her brief cameos). She is also usually seen among those laughing at Lisa whenever she is ridiculed. She was also part of the mob that initially wanted to kill Homer but ended up attacking the entire family after Homer caused the town to be trapped under a giant dome.
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, in stark contrast to Lisa's various and wide achievements throughout the series. It isn't even known if she has actually succumbed to being the rest of the mindless majority of Springfield. It could be likely, as her recent appearances show her with the "popular" girls who aren't concerned about intellectual subjects.
This may be because, having seen the ridicule and ostracizing Lisa suffers from by promoting her activism and her penchant for pushing her opinions on an un-receptive audience, Allison prefers to keep a low-profile and socialize more with others, earning her the friendship that Lisa misses out on. Whether she still considers Lisa a true friend is unknown, as it has been shown in some episodes that even she gets annoyed sometimes at Lisa's actions.
Behind the Laughter[]
Allison was voiced by Winona Ryder in her guest appearance in "Lisa's Rival". In subsequent minor speaking roles, she was voiced by Maggie Roswell in "Lard of the Dance" and Pamela Hayden in later episodes.
She has appeared in different issues of The Simpsons Comics but is sometimes miscolored to make her look a bit like Jessica Lovejoy.
Relationship[]
Lisa Simpson[]
Allison and Lisa are both at the top of their class and are expert level players of the saxophone. She did show concern for Lisa when she was hyperventilating in her lunch bag (when her excuse was "I just like to smell my lunch"). After both Allison and Lisa lost the diorama contest they finally accepted themselves as equals and started a true friendship.
When Lisa was introducing Alex Whitney to her friends and they took off, Lisa thought that Allison and the others had ditched Lisa for Alex. When Lisa, Alex, Sherri, Terri, Janey and Allison were shopping for dresses for the school dance, when Lisa discovered that each of them had dates, Allison said "Don't worry Lisa, there's still plenty of time. You'll get a date", hinting that she was the only one who'd hope that Lisa would go to the dance.
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[]
Ralph Wiggum is friends with her. Ralph looks up to her and asks her for answers on a test. Also, Allison invited Ralph over to her house to play games at the end of the episode.
Physical appearance[]
- Allison has long, auburn colored hair and normally wears a white top, red skirt, a gold necklace, and black flats.
- In "The Heartbroke Kid", Allison is seen on the school stairway with miscolored light brown hair, red top, and her skirt is a brighter red color.
- In "Holidays of Future Passed", Allison is age 37 and her physical appearance is relatively unchanged, but she is wearing lipstick, a low-cut top, and no longer wears her necklace (this episode is non-canon).
- In "Once Upon a Time in Springfield", Allison is dressed as a princess at a Krusty the Clown show and during Ms. Hoover's class, wearing a crown and a green dress.
- Allison's facial symmetry is extremely similar to that of Laura Powers and Ruth Powers. Though, presumably coincidental, it has been a subject of many fan-made works most of which depict her as being Ruth's long-lost Daughter.
- In "A Tree Grows in Springfield", she is seen walking alongside Ruth Powers at the fundraiser as a possible nod to those fan works.
Appearances[]
Note: Many of her appearances are brief background roles. Episodes where she has an actual role are in bold.
- Episode – "Lisa's Rival" (Debut episode)
- Episode – "The PTA Disbands"
- Episode – "Lisa the Iconoclast" (seen in parade)
- Episode – "Summer of 4 Ft. 2"
- Episode – "The Principal and the Pauper"
- Episode – "Bart Star"
- Episode – "Lard of the Dance"
- Episode – "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken"
- Episode – "Last Tap Dance in Springfield"
- Episode – "Lisa the Tree Hugger"
- Episode – "Skinner's Sense of Snow"
- Episode – "Bye Bye Nerdie"
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XII"
- Episode – "Future-Drama"
- Episode – "The Heartbroke Kid" (School stairway, hair miscolored to light brown)
- Episode – "See Homer Run"
- Episode – "Homer's Paternity Coot"
- Episode – "My Fair Laddy"
- Episode – "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer"
- Episode – "Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em" (Seen in the hallway at school)
- Episode – "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II"
- – The Simpsons Movie
- Episode – "Little Orphan Millie"
- Episode – "Husbands and Knives"
- Episode – "How the Test Was Won"
- Episode – "Father Knows Worst"
- Episode – "Waverly Hills 9-0-2-1-D'oh"
- Episode – "Bart Gets a "Z""
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XX"
- Episode – "Rednecks and Broomsticks"
- Episode – "O Brother, Where Bart Thou?"
- Episode – "Once Upon a Time in Springfield"
- Episode – "The Color Yellow"
- Episode – "Stealing First Base"
- Episode – "Postcards From the Wedge" (Seen outside the school)
- Episode – "To Surveil With Love" (Opening Sequence only)
- Episode – "Moe Letter Blues"
- Episode – "Elementary School Musical"
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XXI" (Tweenlight)
- Episode – "The Fool Monty"
- Episode – "The Scorpion's Tale"
- Episode – "The Great Simpsina"
- Episode – "Homer Scissorhands" (Avatar only)
- Episode – "The Ned-liest Catch"
- Episode – "Replaceable You" (Seen at the school)
- Episode – "Holidays of Future Passed" (Avatar only)
- Episode – "The D'oh-cial Network"
- Episode – "Moe Goes from Rags to Riches"
- Episode – "Lisa Goes Gaga"
- Episode – "Black-Eyed, Please"
- Episode – "Dark Knight Court"
- Episode – "Yellow Subterfuge"
- Episode – "Paths of Glory"
- Episode – "Gal of Constant Sorrow"
- Episode – "The Last Traction Hero"
- Episode – "Bart's Not Dead"
- Episode – "Krusty the Clown (episode)" (Seen in Krusty's Kristmas on Ice show)
- Episode – "The Debarted"
- Episode – "To Cur, with Love" (School bus)
- Episode – "A Test Before Trying"
- Episode – "What Animated Women Want"
- Episode – "Specs and the City"
- Episode – "You Don't Have to Live Like a Referee" (Appeared in the gymnasium)
- Episode – "Luca$" (Cafeteria)
- Episode – "What to Expect When Bart's Expecting" (School bus)
- Episode – "Pay Pal" (Playground and Gym)
- Episode – "Super Franchise Me" (Outside of school)
- Episode – "Simpsorama" (Town Square)
- Episode – "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner" (Diz-Nee-Land)
- Episode – "The Musk Who Fell to Earth" (School entrance)
- Episode – "Let's Go Fly a Coot" (Birthday party)
- Episode – "Mathlete's Feat" (Class)
- Episode – "Cue Detective" (School Auditorium)
- Episode – "Teenage Mutant Milk-caused Hurdles" (Playground)
- Episode – "Gal of Constant Sorrow"
- Episode – "Monty Burns' Fleeing Circus" (Springfield Bowl)
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XXVII" (Dry Hard, BFF R.I.P.)
- Episode – "The Last Traction Hero" (School bus)
- Episode – "Pork and Burns" (Class)
- Episode – "22 For 30"
- Episode – "A Father's Watch"
- Episode – "Springfield Splendor" (Food Shed)
- Episode – "The Girl on The Bus"
- Episode – "Bart vs. Itchy & Scratchy" (seen walking into school)
- Episode – "D'oh Canada" (seen during ending scene)
- Episode – "Woo-hoo Dunnit?" (seen in yearbook picture)
- Episode – "Marge the Lumberjill" (seen in crowd at school play)
- Episode – "Hail to the Teeth"
- Episode – "The Miseducation of Lisa Simpson"
- Episode – "Bart the Bad Guy"
- Episode – "Better Off Ned (episode)"
- Episode – "Warrin' Priests (Part Two)" (seen in church)
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XXXI"
- Episode – "Sorry Not Sorry"
- Episode – "Diary Queen"
- Episode – "Panic on the Streets of Springfield"
- Episode – "The Star of the Backstage"
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XXXII" (Dead Ringer)
- Episode – "Lisa's Belly"
- Episode – "Bart the Cool Kid"
- Episode – "My Octopus and a Teacher"
- Episode – "Girls Just Shauna Have Fun"
- Episode – "Meat is Murder"
- Episode – "Poorhouse Rock" (seen at church)
- Episode – "Step Brother from the Same Planet" (seen at party)
- Episode – "Hostile Kirk Place"
- Episode – "Clown V. Board of Education"
- Episode – "Homer's Crossing"
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XXXIV" (Lout Break)
- Episode – "Bart's Brain"
- Comic book – Homer Simpson: Canine Decoder (In gym class, with black hair)
- Comic book – 24 Hours in the Life of Ralph Wiggum
- Comic book – Little Buddy Day (Partnered up with Martin)
- Comic book – The Kiss of Blecch!
- Comic book – How Miss Hoover Got Her Groove Back
- Comic book – Girl Power!
- Comic book – The Face That Launched A Thousand Blecch
- Comic book – Wall or Nothing
- Book – The Lisa Book
- Video game – The Simpsons: Tapped Out
The Simpsons: Season Six | ||||
"Bart of Darkness": | "Lisa's Rival": | "Another Simpsons Clip Show": | "Itchy & Scratchy Land": | "Sideshow Bob Roberts": |
Absent | Major | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Treehouse of Horror V": | "Bart's Girlfriend": | "Lisa on Ice": | "Homer Badman": | "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Fear of Flying": | "Homer the Great": | "And Maggie Makes Three": | "Bart's Comet": | "Homie the Clown": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Bart vs. Australia": | "Homer vs. Patty and Selma": | "A Star is Burns": | "Lisa's Wedding": | "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"The PTA Disbands": | "'Round Springfield": | "The Springfield Connection": | "Lemon of Troy": | "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)": |
Cameo | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
The Simpsons: Season Seven | ||||
"Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)": | "Radioactive Man": | "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily": | "Bart Sells His Soul": | "Lisa the Vegetarian": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Treehouse of Horror VI": | "King-Size Homer": | "Mother Simpson": | "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming": | "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Marge Be Not Proud": | "Team Homer": | "Two Bad Neighbors": | "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield": | "Bart the Fink": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Lisa The Iconoclast": | "Homer The Smithers": | "The Day The Violence Died": | "A Fish Called Selma": | "Bart on the Road": |
Cameo | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"22 Short Films About Springfield": | "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"": | "Much Apu About Nothing": | "Homerpalooza": | "Summer of 4 Ft. 2": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Cameo |
The Simpsons: Season Eight | ||||
"Treehouse of Horror VII": | "You Only Move Twice": | "The Homer They Fall": | "Burns, Baby Burns": | "Bart After Dark": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"A Milhouse Divided": | "Lisa's Date with Density": | "Hurricane Neddy": | "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)": | "The Springfield Files": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Cameo |
"The Twisted World of Marge Simpson": | "Mountain of Madness": | "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious": | "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show": | "Homer's Phobia": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Brother from Another Series": | "My Sister, My Sitter": | "Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment": | "Grade School Confidential": | "The Canine Mutiny": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"The Old Man and the Lisa": | "In Marge We Trust": | "Homer's Enemy": | "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase": | "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
The Simpsons: Season Nine | ||||
"The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson": | "The Principal and the Pauper": | "Lisa's Sax": | "Treehouse of Horror VIII": | "The Cartridge Family": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Bart Star": | "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons": | "Lisa the Skeptic": | "Realty Bites": | "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace": |
Cameo | Absent | Cameo | Absent | Absent |
"All Singing, All Dancing": | "Bart Carny": | "The Joy of Sect": | "Das Bus": | "The Last Temptation of Krust": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Dumbbell Indemnity": | "Lisa the Simpson": | "This Little Wiggy": | "Simpson Tide": | "The Trouble with Trillions": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Girly Edition": | "Trash of the Titans": | "King of the Hill": | "Lost Our Lisa": | "Natural Born Kissers": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
The Simpsons: Season Ten | ||||
"Lard of the Dance": | "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace": | "Bart the Mother": | "Treehouse of Horror IX": | "When You Dish Upon a Star": |
Major | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"D'oh-in' in the Wind": | "Lisa Gets an "A"": | "Homer Simpson in: "Kidney Trouble"": | "Mayored to the Mob": | "Viva Ned Flanders": |
Absent | Cameo | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Wild Barts Can't Be Broken": | "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday": | "Homer to the Max": | "I'm with Cupid": | "Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers"": |
Cameo | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Make Room for Lisa": | "Maximum Homerdrive": | "Simpsons Bible Stories": | "Mom and Pop Art": | "The Old Man and the "C" Student": |
Absent | Absent | Cameo | Absent | Absent |
"Monty Can't Buy Me Love": | "They Saved Lisa's Brain": | "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo": | ||
Absent | Absent | Absent |
The Simpsons: Season Eleven | ||||
"Beyond Blunderdome": | "Brother's Little Helper": | "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?": | "Treehouse of Horror X": | "E-I-E-I-D'oh": |
Absent | Absent | Cameo | Absent | Absent |
"Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder": | "Eight Misbehavin'": | "Take My Wife, Sleaze": | "Grift of the Magi": | "Little Big Mom": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Faith Off": | "The Mansion Family": | "Saddlesore Galactica": | "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily": | "Missionary: Impossible": |
Cameo | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Pygmoelian": | "Bart to the Future": | "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses": | "Kill the Alligator and Run": | "Last Tap Dance in Springfield": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Minor |
"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge": | "Behind the Laughter": | |||
Cameo | Absent |
Gallery[]
Citations[]
- ↑ Although she is in Lisa's class, she is reported to have been moved up a grade in "Lisa's Rival".
- ↑ Lisa's Rival