Clifford The Big Red Dog – An Endearing Girl & Dog Movie (Early Review)

For those who grew up in the 2000s, odds are they have come across the wildly successful animated series “Clifford the Big Red Dog” at some point during their childhood. Inspired by a series of classic scholastic books of the same name, Clifford was a sensation and one of the most recognizable children’s programs of its time. While Clifford is still mentioned in pop culture today, the series has not generated any new content since Clifford’s Puppy Days ended in 2006. That is until the series was suddenly rebooted in 2019 in a partnership between PBS Kids and Amazon Prime. The series was successful and has thus spawned a live-action film, the aptly-titled Clifford The Big Red Dog. Meanwhile, the film was the subject of many internet memes in the past few months, due to the off-putting CGI displayed in the trailer that passed the “uncanny valley” threshold. Despite the negative press the film has received because of this and the fact that it has been delayed several times, it is not the the disaster it was made out to be.

Clifford The Big Red Dog stars newcomer Darby Camp as Emily Elizabeth, a middle-schooler living who struggles to fit in with her peers and adapt to her newfound life in New York City. When her mother goes on a business trip, Emily’s fun but immature and impulsive uncle Casey (Whitehall) comes to stay with her. Emily and Casey visit an animal adoption tent across from her school where they meet a magical animal rescuer, who gifts her a mysterious red puppy. Emily immediately bonds with the dog naming him Clifford. The next morning she wakes up to find that Clifford had rapidly grown into a ten-foot hound. Hijinks ensue, as Emily and Casey try and hide Clifford from the apartment landlord who has a strict “no pets” rule. Meanwhile, a corrupt scientific corporation who specialize in animal mutation, become aware of Clifford and attempt to claim him as their own.

As a whole, Clifford The Big Red Dog is a silly, but sweet and surprisingly heartfelt family film that both surpasses expectations and does the classic series justice. The film does a great job at capturing the hardships of feeling utterly alone, especially as a child, and how one single connection can make a world of difference. Camp delivers a strong lead performance, as she conveys genuine emotion, acting opposite the giant CGI dog. Unlike many other cartoon adaptations where the filmmaker has no attachment to the source material, it’s clear that Becker has some sort of connection to the series, as he crafts a film that encapsulates what made Clifford the Big Red Dog such a sensation in the first place.

While the film is surprisingly thoughtful and features a strong lead performance, it’s far from perfect. There are so many storylines crammed into the film that it often feels overly chaotic. It may have been more effective if the film took a slice of life approach like the cartoon series and focused solely on Emily’s bond with Clifford and how that allows her to build connections with others. Instead, the films opts to weave in a ridiculous plot-line that attempts to address some major themes but it does so in the most outlandish and bizarre fashion. The film’s CGI also leaves much to be desired, as the trailer suggested. Instead of trying to emulate the design from the cartoon, the CGI dog is incredibly realistic, outside of the fact that it is red and ten feet tall. This combination makes for strange results and it’s hard not to giggle at the absurdity of the design.

Despite its issues, Clifford The Big Red Dog is a fun family flick that will satisfy both children and parents who grew up with the books or the cartoon series.

still courtesy of eOne Films

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Tristan French