The Simpsons (animation)/Recap/S4 E4 Lisa the Beauty Queen

At the Springfield Elementary School carnival, Homer wins a ticket for a ride on the fabled Duff Blimp at a raffle. Meanwhile, a caricaturist draws Lisa's portrait and she's deeply upset by the exaggerated result, believing that this is how everyone sees her. Homer and Marge is unable to comfort her and convince her she's pretty. Later at Moe's, Homer catches an ad for the upcoming Little Miss Springfield pageant and realizes Lisa is eligible to participate, provided he can pony up a pricey entrance fee. He reluctantly offers Barney his Duff Blimp ticket in exchange for the money, and Barney (who has been earning extra cash as a subject for scientific experiments) agrees.

Lisa is initially aghast at finding out she's been entered in the pageant, fearing further humiliation, but when Marge tells her that Homer gave up his blimp ticket for it she decides to go through with it for his sake. Bart coaches her on the aesthetics of presenting herself to judges, Marge accompanies her to the beauty shop for a flattering new harido, etc. At the pageant, Lisa holds her own with a lively routine set to a medley of "America the Beautiful" and "Proud Mary" and promises to make Springfield a better place if she wins, but comes in second behind Amber Frey, a professional beauty pageant contestant.

At a grocery store opening shortly afterward, not only does Barney manage to crash the Duff Blimp, but owing to her metal scepter Amber is struck by lightning while christening the parking lot's severe tire damage spikes. While she goes on to add another title to her reputation ("Little Miss Intensive Care Unit"), Lisa is sworn in as Little Miss Springfield.

Lisa finds that fulfilling her duties as Little Miss Springfield aren't as personally fulfilling as she hopes, and to make matters worse, the pageant's sponsor -- Laramie Cigarettes -- is pushing her to become their new spokesperson to better market their product to children. At a parade where her float features corporate lackeys tossing boxes of cigarettes to the kids, she finally has enough and declares that she will speak out against smoking from now on.

Lisa continues to speak up for pro-social issues at subsequent public appearances and Laramie Cigarettes becomes desperate to reinstate Amber as Little Miss Springfield. Finally, they find grounds to disqualify Lisa -- Homer, when he filled out the entry form, came upon the instruction "Do not write below this line" and wrote "Okay" beneath it. Homer apologizes to Lisa for costing her the title, but she bears no ill will towards him since his effort to make her feel better about herself by entering her in the pageant worked.

This episode contains examples of:

 * Celebrity Endorsement: Lisa, to her horror, finds herself being forced into this for Laramie Cigarettes. Earlier, when the ad for the pageant notes that Krusty the Klown will be hosting it, it cuts to black-and-white footage of Krusty blankly stating "I heartily endorse this event or product!"
 * Deliberately Cute Child: Amber Frey.
 * Disney Owns This Trope: The opening scene has Principal Skinner confronted by Disney lawyers over the carnival being advertised as "The Happiest Place on Earth" (a famous slogan for Disneyland). Being an ex-Green Beret, however, he dispatches them easily.