"I wish you were big and strong and the world couldn't hurt us."
— Emily
Clifford the Big Red Dog is a film by Paramount Pictures and Entertainment One that was released in both theaters and Paramount+ on November 10, 2021 in the US (by Paramount) and in Canada (by eOne) on that same day in theaters. It’s based on the book series of the same name. Clifford the Big Red Dog. The film later debuted in the UK/Ireland (by eOne) on December 10th of that year. Shortly after its release, Paramount ordered a sequel.
The story is about Emily Elizabeth Howard (Darby Camp), a middle schooled girl who gets bullied and lives with her mother and slobbish but well-intentioned uncle Casey (Jack Whitehall) who finds a red dog has stowed away in her backpack and over time grows gigantic in size and has to help him overcome the difficulties of society.
The film also stars Tony Hale as Zack Tieran, Sienna Guillory as Maggie Howard, David Alan Grier as Mr. Packard, Russell Wong as Mr. Yu, Kenan Thompson as Clifford's veterinarian and John Cleese as Mr. Bridwell.
Previews: First Look
, Trailer 1, Trailer 2, International Trailer.
Not to be confused with Clifford's Really Big Movie.
Clifford the Big Red Dog contains examples of:
- An Aesop: This film is filled with them.
- Be Yourself.
- Our differences don't matter and that love is the ultimate solution to all.
- Abandoned Pet in a Box: Downplayed, Mr. Bridwell finding Clifford at the park fighting with some pigeons.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In the original books, Emily Elizabeth comes from a typical suburban family and she becomes Clifford's owner with no issues. Here, she's the lonely child of a single mother in the care of a slacker uncle and she has to keep Clifford a secret because her building doesn't allow pets. The plot is also more high stakes whereas the books mainly focused on the trouble Clifford innocently gets into because of his large size and curiosity.
- Adaptation Expansion: It appears there is way more detail here about Emily, and Clifford's life in general.
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: Unlike all other Clifford media like the books and the TV series, the Howards don't move to a rural area of the mainland U.S.(books) or to Bridwell Island (TV series).
- Adaptational Location Change: The film places their setting in New York City, whereas in the original Clifford book and TV series, they live in the country or on Bridwell/Birdwell Island off the coast of an unnamed city, presumably based off of New York.
- Adapted Out: Emily Elizabeth's father, and Clifford's TV series exclusive companions, T-Bone and Cleo, are all left out of the film.
- Adaptational Dye-Job: In the original books and TV series, Emily Elizabeth is drawn as a blonde girl. In the film, she's a brunette with dark brown/auburn hair.
- Adults Are Useless: Averted at the middle of the film where everyone makes a change of heart and help Emily-Elizabeth break into Lyfegro to save Clifford, as well as going along with her speech at the park.
- Age Lift: Emily-Elizabeth is a middle school student here; in the original books, she is in elementary school.
- Alpha Bitch: Florence, who is the antagonist in the first act before being pushed aside for the slightly more threatening Zack Tieran.
- Artistic License – Biology: A dog the size of Clifford would likely not be able to grow much larger because he would not have the bone density strong enough to support his own weight due to the Square-Cube Law.
- Asian and Nerdy: Owen Yu, Emily's only friend.
- Batman in My Basement: Emily and Casey trying to keep Clifford a secret. Especially from Mr. Packard.
- Big Applesauce: This film takes place chiefly in New York City.
- Big Bad: Zack Tieran, the owner of the genetics company Lyfegrow.
- Canon Foreigner: Most of the cast besides Emily, Clifford, Emily's mother and Brutus if you count him as an adaptation of T-Bone.
- Chekhov's Gun: Emily encounters a shopkeeper who accidentally lost his hand while chopping up meat (and became a vegetarian as a result). Later, the Lyfegro employees threaten the protagonists with a high-voltage stun gun, but said shopkeeper just grabs it with his (non-conductive) prosthetic hand and is unharmed.
- Company Cross References: Owen uses a SpongeBob SquarePants flash drive at one point. Paramount distributes the movies for that franchise.
- Cute Mute: Clifford, unlike all the other adaptations, doesn't talk at all here and functions like a regular dog who comically understands English.
- Doing in the Scientist: The explanation of Clifford's size change is all but stated to be magical as he goes from smaller than a cat to the size of an elephant overnight, removing most of the Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane from previous versions of the character.
- Giant Food: This is the goal of the company Lyfegro through genetic engineering. Unfortunately for them, they spent millions on projects that went nowhere. They're after Clifford in an attempt to isolate what makes him so big and replicate it.
- Gonna Need More X: This tweet released in July 2021, announcing the film's debut in the Toronto International Film Festival, features the tagline "We're gonna need a bigger theater" with emphasis on "bigger".
- Hate Sink: Zack Tieran. For good or for ill, his main purpose for even being in the movie is to provide conflict and be detestable while doing so.
- Instant Humiliation: Just Add YouTube!: Emily-Elizabeth spilling her cans going viral on some social media site.
- Instant Web Hit: Clifford attracting the attention of everyone and spreading through social media.
- It Was with You All Along: Mr. Bridwell telling Emily-Elizabeth that the only way to solve her problem is by standing up for herself.
- I Owe You My Life: When Clifford saves a man from falling off a TV antenna, who later aids Emily and Casey along with everyone else in breaking Clifford out of Lyfegro.
- Jerk with the Heart of a Jerk: Zach Tieran of course.
- Kaiju: Clifford is an elephant-sized canine with an unusually red-colored fur.
- Licked by the Dog: Alpha Bitch Florence gets it from Clifford and she is unable to retaliate other than expressing disgust, effectively ruining her credibility as a threatening school bully.
- The Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday: Emily's adoption of Clifford is facilitated by Mr. Bridwell, a man who runs an animal rescue out of a tent, justifying its mobility. A veterinary nurse recognizes it from her long career as the source of many strange animal cases that invariably improved people's lives.
- Mythology Gag: At one point, Casey calls Owen's dog Brutus "T-Bone".
- Rich Bitch: There is a notable gap in class between Emily-Elizabeth, who won attendance from a kind of lottery, and her schoolmates, something Florence mocks her for by calling her "Food Stamp". Florence rants at one point that she resents Emily getting a free ride when everyone else had to pay their way in, but at one point mocks Emily for actually putting in the work to collect for a school can drive instead of her parents paying for it like everyone else's did.
- Rousing Speech: Emily Elizabeth towards the end convincing almost everyone that differences don't matter, and that love is more important than all.
- Swiss-Army Tears: Clifford still becomes big from Emily-Elizabeth's love but it doesn't happen until she sheds a tear on him while sharing her wish for everyone to be more loving like him. The trailers emphasize it by making the tear glow prominently, but it doesn't glow in the film.
- Wilhelm Scream: Used a few times in the movie but it can be heard the loudest when Clifford runs up and bounces a large exercise ball up into the air with a man in it and the man lets out the infamous scream.
- Unconventional Vehicle Chase: Clifford, Emily, and her friends and family being chased by Lyfegro's security guards and the cops towards the end to get to Mr. Bridwell for his answer.
- Villain Ball: The movie’s conflict hinges on Lyfegro trying to steal Clifford instead of simply asking Emily Elizabeth for permission to take a DNA sample from him, a simple and harmless process of swabbing his cheek for a sample of his saliva.
- Villainy-Free Villain: The only things that makes Zac Tieran and Lyfgro, whose goal is trying to solve world hunger, villains is due to Poor Communication Kills because they try to steal Clifford, in order to find out why he is so big, from Emily. An issue that could have been easily avoided had they simply asked for permission to take a few unintrusive medical tests and collect DNA samples from him instead, something that could easily be done by vet.
