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Clifford the Big Red Dog is an enduring American children's book series that began being published in 1963. Written by Norman Bridwell, they helped establish Scholastic Books as a premier publishing company.
Clifford was the runt of the litter, and was chosen by a city kid named Emily Elizabeth Howard as her birthday present. No one expected Clifford to grow, but Emily Elizabeth's love for her puppy changed Clifford dramatically. Before long, he was over 25 feet tall, forcing the Howard family to leave the city and move to the open spaces of Birdwell Island. Birdwell is an anagram of author Norman Bridwell's last name.
Scholastic Studios produced a successful television adaptation shown on PBS Kids, aired from 2000 to 2003, but still reruns currently.
Clifford the Big Red Dog was one of several PBS Kids shows designed to teach children a number of life lessons. Two 11-minute stories made up each half-hour cartoon. Usually one story featured Clifford and his canine friends, T-Bone and Cleo among them; the other story would focus on Emily Elizabeth and friends her age. One principle was kept religiously: the dogs only talked when people were not around. And they only barked when people were around.
Veteran actor and devoted family man John Ritter was the voice of Clifford. Generally speaking, his schedule dictated the production of Clifford the Big Red Dog. By the time the last of the 65 half-hour cartoons and the movie were completed, Ritter was back on ABC's prime-time schedule, starring in 8 Simple Rules. Ritter's death on the set of 8 Simple Rules on September 11, 2003, came just days after PBS debuted Clifford's Puppy Days, a function of keeping Clifford's legacy going. Unusually for an imported American series, the version shown in the UK was redubbed with the voices of British actors.
Voice actors and their characters
- John Ritter - Clifford the Big Red Dog
- Grey DeLisle - Emily Elizabeth Howard, Soccer Team Announcer, Ad Announcer
- Cree Summer - Cleo
- Kel Mitchell - T-Bone
- Cam Clarke - Machavelli, Mr. Mark Howard, Mr. Dink, Ad Announcer
- Earl Boen - Mr. Horace Bleakman, Ned Graham, James Carty
- Terrence Carson - Samuel (Charlie's Father)
- Ulises Caudra - Vaz
- Gary LeRoi Gray - Charley
- Nick Jameson - Sheriff Lewis
- Phil LaMarr - Al the Brown Dog, Announcer Man on End
- Edie McClurg - Mrs. Violet Bleakman
- Haunani Minn - Dr. Dihn
- Tony Plana - Victor & Pedro
- Kath Soucie - Jetta, Jetta's Mother, Vaz's Mother, Mrs. Caroline Howard, Vendor Lady
- Frank Welker - Boomer, Gordo & Rex
- Brent Titcomb - Clifford the Big Red Dog (1989 video tapes)
- Alyson Court - Emily Elizabeth Howard (1989 video tapes)
Contradictions with the sequel (Clifford's Puppy Days)
- The original series makes no reference or mention of Daffodil or Emily Elizabeth's other friends. While it can be assumed that Daffodil has been left with any of Emily Elizabeth's friends or even has passed on, it is strange that she and everyone else was never mentioned in any of Clifford's flashbacks to the time he was just a small puppy.
References
Media and Culture, 5th ed., Richard Campbell, Christopher R. Martin and Bettina Fabos.
Funding
- Ready To Learn
- United States Department of Education (2000-2002)
- Corporation for Public Broadcasting (2000-2002)
- Kix Cereal (2000-2002)
- Milton Bradley board games (2002)
- Chuck E. Cheeses (2001-2002)
See also
External links
Series of books | Children's books | 2000s TV shows in the United States | Animated television series | PBS network shows | Fictional dogs
"Clifford the Big Red Dog"