Clifford the Big Red Dog (TV series) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Clifford the Big Red Dog |
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| Genre | |
| Created by | Deborah Forte |
| Directed by | John Over |
| Voices of |
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| Ending theme | "Clifford the Big Red Dog" (instrumental) |
| Composer(s) |
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| Country of origin | |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 66 (130 segments) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Deborah Forte |
| Running time | 26 minutes (13 minutes per segment) |
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| Distributor | Scholastic (United States) TV-Loonland AG (Europe) |
| Release | |
| Original network | |
| Original release | September 4, 2000 – February 25, 2003 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Clifford's Puppy Days |
| Related shows | Clifford the Big Red Dog (2019) |
Clifford the Big Red Dog is an American/British educational animated children's television series, based upon Norman Bridwell's children's book series of the same name. Produced by Scholastic Productions, it originally aired on PBS Kids from September 4, 2000 to February 25, 2003. The UK version (where it was dubbed with British voice actors replacing the original American soundtrack) originally aired on BBC Two on April 1, 2002.
John Ritter voiced Clifford in all episodes, though this was originally done by Canadian actor Brent Titcomb in the 1988 direct-to-video series. By the time the last of the 65 half-hour episodes and the subsequent film Clifford's Really Big Movie were completed, Ritter was back on ABC's prime time schedule, starring in 8 Simple Rules. Ritter's death on September 11, 2003 came less than two weeks after PBS debuted Clifford's Puppy Days.
While no new Clifford episodes have been released since Ritter's death, voice actors for the main characters have reprised some of their roles for the Ready to Learn PBS Kids PSAs. Clifford's Really Big Movie serves as the series finale due to Ritter's death, as no new episodes were made to continue from where it left off (until the reboot in 2019). However, Clifford's Puppy Days still continued to air until its cancellation in 2006.
On May 16, 2018, Scholastic announced a reboot of the series of the same name, which was released on December 6, 2019 on Amazon Prime Video and December 7, 2019 on PBS Kids, starring Adam Sanders as the new voice of Clifford. However, PBS Kids continues to air reruns of this animated series.
Contents
Overview
Two 15-minute stories made up each half-hour episode. Usually one story featured Clifford and his canine friends, Cleo, T-Bone and Mac among them; the other story would focus on Clifford's owner, Emily Elizabeth and her friends, Jetta, Vaz and Charley. During scenes focusing on the dogs' perspective, human speech would replace barking to show the storyline from the dogs' point of view.
Episodes
List of Clifford the Big Red Dog episodes
Characters
Humans
- Emily Elizabeth Howard (voiced by Grey DeLisle Griffin; Joanna Ruiz in the British version): Clifford's 8-year-old owner. Emily Elizabeth adopted Clifford when he was a very small puppy, when her parents gave him to her on her 6th birthday. Emily's love apparently caused Clifford to grow enormous, thus starting their new lives on Birdwell Island. Emily was named for creator Norman Bridwell's daughter and based on the imaginary adventures of Bridwell's wife.
- Caroline Howard (also voiced by Grey DeLisle Griffin): Emily Elizabeth's mom. She owns and works at The Sea Shell, which is a small store on Birdwell Island.
- Mark Howard (voiced by Cam Clarke): Emily Elizabeth's dad and the husband of Caroline Howard.
- Charley (voiced by Gary LeRoi Gray): Emily Elizabeth's friend who is Jamaican American. He lives on a houseboat with his father, who owns a restaurant.
- Samuel (voiced by Terrence C. Carson): Charley's father and the Jamaican owner of Samuel's Fish and Chips. He runs most of the pier.
- Jetta Handover (voiced by Kath Soucie): Mac's owner. She is a friend of Emily Elizabeth and tends to be snobby towards her. Soucie also voiced Jetta's mother who owns one of the island stores. She often wears her sweater as a poncho.
- Cosmo Handover (voiced by Debi Derryberry) is the infant brother of Jetta. He is first seen in the episode "Baby Makes 4".
- Vaz (voiced by Ulysses Cuadra): A Spanish American boy who is friends with Emily Elizabeth and Charley.
- Sheriff Lewis (voiced by Nick Jameson): T-Bone's owner. The island's sheriff and the soccer coach.
- Mrs. Diller (voiced by Cree Summer): Cleo's owner.
- Violet Bleakman (voiced by Edie McClurg) is the first neighbor of the Howards to introduce herself.
- Horace Bleakman (voiced by Earl Boen) Violet's husband.
- Mary (also voiced by Kath Soucie): Emily Elizabeth's friend who sits in a wheelchair due to her disability of walking and standing up. She plays piano.
Dogs
- Clifford (voiced by John Ritter; Tom Eastwood in the British version): A big red Labrador Retriever. The depiction of Clifford's size is inconsistent; he is often shown as being about 30 feet tall (9.1 m) from paws to head, but can appear far larger. The character is based on the imaginary friend of creator Norman Bridwell's wife. His owner is Emily Elizabeth Howard.
- Cleo (also voiced by Cree Summer; Regine Candler in the British version): A purple female poodle. Her owner is Mrs. Diller but she mainly spends the day with her friends Clifford and T-Bone. Her catchphrase is "Have I ever steered you wrong?", and when the dogs would reminisce on a time that happened, she would interrupt them in mid-sentence.
- T-Bone (voiced by Kel Mitchell; Benjamin Small in the British version): A yellow male bulldog. His owner is Sheriff Lewis but he mainly spends the day with his friends Clifford and Cleo.
- T-Bone once had a friend named Hamburger (voiced by Kel Mitchell's longtime comedy partner Kenan Thompson) who moved away before Clifford arrived.
- Mac (also voiced by Cam Clarke): A blue male greyhound. It is revealed in a few episodes that his name is short for Machiavelli. His owner is Jetta Handover.
- K.C. (also voiced by Cam Clarke): A male dog who only walks on three legs. He is one of Clifford's, Cleo's and T-Bone's best friends.
- Mimi (voiced by Tyisha Hampton): A female poodle and T-Bone's love interest who occasionally visits Birdwell Island.
Production
The series was produced by Mike Young Productions and Scholastic Studios with animation produced by Hong Ying Universe Company Limited in Taipei, Taiwan and Hosem Animation Studio, a Shanghai-based outlet in China who did the uncredited work.
Setting
| Series | Clifford the Big Red Dog |
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| Type | Island |
| First appearance | "My Best Friend" |
| Last appearance | Clifford's Really Big Movie |
The TV series takes place in the fictional island of Birdwell Island, where Clifford lives. The name is inspired by Norman Bridwell, the author of the books, but the letters I and R are switched. Birdwell Island was inspired by Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, where Bridwell lived.
Emily Elizabeth used to live in an apartment in New York City, but she moved away with her parents and Clifford to Birdwell Island because her mother told her that a small apartment is no place for a big dog like Clifford.
Format
The series has at least 4 segments in the show.
- First story: The opening theme is followed by the first central story, which is usually about the dogs, and a problem they face.
- Storytime with Speckle: Between the first and second story, Emily Elizabeth reads Clifford a short story about a dog named Speckle, and his animal friends.
- Second story: Another central story, usually about Emily Elizabeth and her friends.
- Clifford's Big Ideas: Another 30-second short, which demonstrates a moral lesson such as "Play Fair" or "Help Others", with narration by Emily Elizabeth. This segment was cut-out on PBS Kids Channel airings.
- Live action segments starring real kids and their dogs.
On UK airings, only one story is shown, with either the Storytime with Speckle or the Clifford's Big Ideas segments at the end, shortening the show to about 15 minutes.
International broadcast
Clifford the Big Red Dog was shown on CBeebies and Tiny Pop in the United Kingdom. It also aired in Canada on CBC and in Latin America on Discovery Kids. It aired in the Republic of Ireland on TG4 from 6 February 2001. It aired in Australia on Nine and in New Zealand on TV2.
2019 reboot
On May 16, 2018, Scholastic announced a reboot of the series, which premiered on December 6, 2019 for both Amazon Prime Video and PBS Kids. Scholastic, 100 Chickens, 9 Story Media Group and Brown Bag Films produce the series. Excepting Clifford, Emily Elizabeth and Birdwell Island, the new series is a complete departure from the predecessor show's character base.
In other media
Direct-to-video
In 1988, before the television series, six direct-to-video episodes based on the Clifford series were released on videocassette by Family Home Entertainment, Scholastic Media and Nelvana Limited. The animation for the direct-to-video series came from the Peanuts cartoon team of Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez. Brent Titcomb voiced Clifford in the videos, and Alyson Court voiced Emily Elizabeth.
Film
In 2004, Warner Bros. Pictures distributed a feature-length animated film based on the show, Clifford's Really Big Movie. In the film, Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone join an animal show to win a lifetime supply of dog food to provide for Clifford. This was one of John Ritter's last films as he died on September 11, 2003, after completing voice work for the film. Clifford's Really Big Movie was dedicated to his memory. The movie also stars Wayne Brady as Shackleford the Ferret, Judge Reinhold as Amazing Larry, John Goodman as George Wolfsbottom, and Jenna Elfman as Dorothy the Cow. The film also serves as the series finale, as no new episodes were produced after the film was released, until the reboot premiered on PBS Kids in 2019.
Video games
Original series
- Clifford's Reading
- Clifford's Thinking Adventures
Modern series
- Clifford's Learning Activities
- Clifford's Musical Memory Games
- Clifford's Phonics
- Clifford's Big Puzzle Game (A Wendy's Kids' Meal DVD game, available for a limited time only)
Sponsors
- Kix (2000-2003)
- Chuck E. Cheese's (2001-2012)
- Milton Bradley (2002)
- Lipton (2003-2005)
- Clifford the Big Red Dog (TV series) at BBC Programmes
