 = Maggie Simpson = 
 
 Margaret " Maggie " Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons . She first appeared on television in the Tracey Ullman Show short " Good Night " on April 19 , 1987 . Maggie was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks ' office . She received her first name from Groening 's youngest sister . After appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show for three years , the Simpson family was given their own series on the Fox Broadcasting Company which debuted December 17 , 1989 . 
 Maggie is the youngest child of Marge and Homer , and sister to Bart and Lisa . She is often seen sucking on her red pacifier and , when she walks , she trips over her clothing and falls on her face ( this running gag is used much more in earlier seasons ) . Being an infant , she cannot talk . She is a counterpart to Lisa Simpson . However , she did appear to talk in the first Tracy Ullman short . Therefore , she is the least seen and heard member of the Simpson family . 
 Maggie 's squeaking and occasional speaking parts are currently provided by Nancy Cartwright , but she has also been voiced by guest stars James Earl Jones , Elizabeth Taylor and Jodie Foster , and by series regulars Yeardley Smith and Harry Shearer . Maggie has appeared in various media relating to The Simpsons – including video games , The Simpsons Movie , The Simpsons Ride , commercials and comic books – and has inspired an entire line of merchandise . 
 
 = = Role in The Simpsons = = 
 
 The Simpsons uses a floating timeline in which the characters do not physically age , and as such the show is assumed to be set in the current year . In several episodes , events have been linked to specific times , though sometimes this timeline has been contradicted in subsequent episodes . Maggie is the youngest child of Marge and Homer , and sister to Bart and Lisa . When Marge became pregnant with Bart , she and Homer got married at a chapel in Las Vegas . To support his impending family , Homer all but demanded a job at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant , impressing its owner , Mr Burns , with his aggressive submissiveness . When Marge became pregnant with Lisa , two years later , she and Homer bought their first house . Another six years later , Homer felt financially secure enough to finally quit his job at the Power Plant and take his dream job at Barney 's Bowlarama . However , Marge became pregnant with Maggie , so Homer , once again unable to support his family , was forced to reapply for his old job . By the time Maggie was born , Homer had shown great signs of distress , but he managed to find motivation in the form of his newborn baby girl . 
 During the earlier seasons of the show , Maggie 's equivalent of a hallmark was to trip over her clothing and fall on her face while trying to walk , causing a loud thud on the floor , but this was toned down in the later seasons . She has penchant for her pacifier , on which she is always seen sucking . 
 Maggie has performed a number of feats that suggest she is a baby genius . She has spelled out E = MC ² with her baby blocks , driven Homer 's car , escaped from the Springfield daycare center , and written her name on an Etch A Sketch . Maggie is keenly aware of her surroundings , and can usually be seen imitating the flow of action around her . She shows a high degree of dexterity , and she once hit Homer on the head with a mallet and shot a dart at a photograph of him in imitation of Itchy and Scratchy . Despite her age , Maggie is a formidable marksman , as seen in " Who Shot Mr. Burns ? " where she shoots Mr. Burns with a handgun that falls into her hands , and in a more intentional manner during " Poppa 's Got a Brand New Badge " where she is able to non @-@ fatally shoot a group of mobsters in rapid succession with a rifle that she apparently hides in her crib . 
 Maggie is usually frightened and exasperated by Homer 's attempts to bond with her , but has on several occasions stepped in to save Homer 's life : once from drowning , once from being shot by mobsters , once from being kidnapped by a tow truck driver , and once from being shot by Russ Cargill , head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency . 
 
 = = Character = = 
 
 
 = = = Creation = = = 
 
 Matt Groening first conceived Maggie and the rest of the Simpson family in 1986 in the lobby of James L. Brooks 's office . Groening had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show , and had intended to present an adaptation of his Life in Hell comic strip . When he realized that animating Life in Hell would require him to rescind publication rights for his life 's work , Groening decided to go in another direction , and hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family . The baby of the family was named Maggie after Groening 's youngest sister . Maggie then made her debut with the rest of the Simpsons family on April 19 , 1987 in the short " Good Night " . In 1989 , the shorts were adapted into The Simpsons , a half @-@ hour series that would air on the Fox Broadcasting Company . Maggie and the rest of the family remained the main characters on this new show . 
 The entire Simpson family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette . The family was crudely drawn , because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators , assuming they would clean them up ; instead , they just traced over his drawings . Maggie 's physical features are generally not used in other characters ; for example , in the later seasons , no character other than Lisa shares her hairline . While designing Maggie and Lisa , Groening " couldn 't be bothered to even think about girls ' hair styles " . At the time , Groening was primarily drawing in black and white and when designing Lisa and Maggie , he " just gave them this kind of spiky starfish hair style , not thinking that they would eventually be drawn in color " . 
 Groening thought that it would be funny to have a baby character that did not talk and never grew up , but was scripted to show any emotions that the scene required . Maggie 's comedic hallmarks include her tendency to stumble and land on her face while attempting to walk , and a penchant for sucking on her pacifier , the sound of which has become the equivalent of her catchphrase and was originally created by Groening during the Tracey Ullman period . In the early seasons of the show , Maggie would suck her pacifier over other characters ' dialogue , but this was discontinued because the producers found it too distracting . 
 
 = = = Voice = = = 
 
 With few exceptions , Maggie never speaks but participates in the events around her , emoting with subtle gestures and facial expressions . Maggie 's first lines were spoken in " Good Night " , the first short to air on The Tracey Ullman Show , after the family falls asleep . On this occasion , Liz Georges provided the voice of Maggie . 
 Although she had previously spoken in fantasies and dream sequences , Maggie 's first word spoken in the normal continuity of the series occurred in " Lisa 's First Word " , when she was voiced by Elizabeth Taylor . Although it was only one word ( " Daddy " ) , Taylor had to record the part numerous times before the producers were satisfied . James Earl Jones voiced Maggie in " Treehouse of Horror V " . Maggie would later have brief dialogue in " Treehouse of Horror IX " , voiced by Harry Shearer , who used his Kang voice . In earlier episodes , Yeardley Smith did many of Maggie 's squeaks , cries , laughs and occasional speaking parts , although in the later seasons her parts are done by Nancy Cartwright ( including a single word spoken during the end credits of The Simpsons Movie ) . Jodie Foster voiced a Howard Roark @-@ inspired Maggie in the season 20 episode " Four Great Women and a Manicure " . 
 In the occasional " Simpsons in the future " -themed episodes ( " Lisa 's Wedding " , " Bart to the Future " , " Future @-@ Drama " , " Holidays of Future Passed " , " Days of Future Future " ) , although an older Maggie is depicted , as a running gag within these episodes she is never shown speaking , so no voice actors have been utilized on these occasions . 
 
 = = Reception = = 
 
 Nancy Basile at About.com said her favorite Maggie scenes on The Simpsons are the ones that show her acting more like an adult than a one @-@ year @-@ old . Some of her favorite Maggie scenes include scenes from " Sweet Seymour Skinner 's Baadasssss Song " and " Lady Bouvier 's Lover " where Maggie meets her unibrowed archenemy , Baby Gerald , and the one scene from " Itchy & Scratchy : The Movie " in which Bart is supposed to babysit Maggie , but she escapes and takes Homer 's car for a ride . Basile also added that " whether watching ' The Happy Elves ' or falling down , Maggie is the cutest baby in the Simpson family " . Comedian Ricky Gervais named " And Maggie Makes Three " his second favorite episode of the show and said that the scene in the end where Homer puts up pictures of Maggie over his desk gave him " a lump in the throat thinking about it " . Todd Everett at Variety called the scene in " Lisa 's First Word " where Maggie speaks her first word " quite a heart @-@ melter " . 
 In 2006 , Elizabeth Taylor was named thirteenth on IGN 's " Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances " list for her performance as Maggie in " Lisa 's First Word " . James Earl Jones , voice of Maggie in " Treehouse of Horror V " , was named the seventh greatest guest star on the show in the same list . In 2000 , Maggie and the rest of the Simpson family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard . 
 
 = = Merchandising = = 
 
 Four children 's books , written by Maggie Groening ( after whom Maggie was named ) and illustrated by Matt Groening , entitled Maggie Simpson 's Book of Animals , Maggie Simpson 's Counting Book , Maggie Simpson 's Book of Colors and Shapes and Maggie Simpson 's Alphabet Book were released on September 12 , 1991 . Other merchandise includes dolls , posters , figurines , jigsaw puzzles , and T @-@ shirts . Maggie was made into an action figure as part of the World of Springfield toy line , and was released in the wave one playset " Living Room " , featuring her and Marge in the living room of the Simpsons house . Maggie has appeared in commercials for Burger King , Butterfinger , C.C. Lemon , Domino 's Pizza , Ramada Inn and Subway . 
 Maggie has appeared in other media relating to The Simpsons . She is a character in every one of The Simpsons video games , including the most recent , The Simpsons Game . Alongside the television series , Maggie regularly appears in issues of the Simpsons comics , which were first published on November 29 , 1993 and are still issued monthly . Maggie also plays a role in The Simpsons Ride , launched in 2008 at Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood . Maggie starred in the 3D short @-@ film The Longest Daycare , which was shown in theaters before Ice Age : Continental Drift in 2012 . 
 On April 9 , 2009 , the United States Postal Service unveiled a series of five 44 cent stamps featuring Maggie and the four other members of the Simpson family . They are the first characters from a television series to receive this recognition while the show is still in production . The stamps , designed by Matt Groening , were made available for purchase on May 7 , 2009 . In a USPS poll , Maggie 's stamp was voted the most popular of the five . 
 
 