Clifford the Big Red Dog (2000 TV series)

Did You Know?

• During scenes focusing on the dogs' perspective, human speech would take place of barking to show the storyline from the dogs' point of view.
• Lynne Heffley of Los Angeles Times wrote that the series 'focuses on positive messages with a fantasy approach.'

Characters

Emily Elizabeth Howard (voiced by Grey DeLisle) is Clifford's 8-year-old owner who adopted him as a puppy on her sixth birthday; her admiration caused him to grow enormous. Her mother Caroline Howard (also voiced by Grey DeLisle) owns the Sea Shell store on Birdwell Island, and her father Mark Howard (voiced by Cam Clarke) is Caroline's husband. Charley (voiced by Gary LeRoi Gray) is a Jamaican-American friend who lives on a houseboat with his father Samuel (voiced by Terrence C. Carson), owner of Samuel's Fish and Chips.

Jetta Handover (voiced by Kath Soucie) is an Italian-American girl who owns Mac and tends to be snobby; she has an infant brother Cosmo (voiced by Debi Derryberry). Vaz (voiced by Ulysses Cuadra) is a Latin American boy and friend of Emily Elizabeth. Sheriff Lewis (voiced by Nick Jameson) owns T-Bone and serves as island sheriff and soccer coach. Mrs. Diller (voiced by Cree Summer) owns Cleo.

Horace Bleakman (voiced by Earl Boen) is Violet's husband who often dislikes Clifford, while Violet Bleakman (voiced by Edie McClurg) is the Howards' first neighbor. Mary (voiced by Kath Soucie) uses a wheelchair and plays piano. Dan (voiced by Susan Blu) is a classmate. Laura Howard (voiced by E. G. Daily) is Emily Elizabeth's cousin with a dog named Rex. Miss Debbie Carrington (voiced by Grey Griffin) is the Black American schoolteacher.

Production

The series was produced by Mike Young Productions and Scholastic Entertainment, with animation by Hong Ying Universe Company Limited in Taipei, Taiwan and Hosem Animation Studio in Shanghai. The fictional Birdwell Island takes its name from author Norman Bridwell with the letters I and R swapped, and was inspired by Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. Emily Elizabeth moved from a New York City apartment to Birdwell Island because her mother said a small apartment is no place for a big dog.

Each half-hour episode typically contains four segments: a first story about the dogs, Storytime with Speckle (a segment where Emily Elizabeth reads about an anthropomorphic dog named Speckle and his animal friends), a second story about Emily Elizabeth and her friends, and Clifford's Big Ideas (a 30-second moral lesson). The UK version shows only one story with either Storytime with Speckle or Clifford's Big Ideas, shortening the show to about 15 minutes.

Discovery Kids LA airings omit Storytime with Speckle and run 22 minutes. Storytime with Speckle features Speckle (a yellow and brown spotted puppy), Luna (an orange and brown raccoon), Ravi (a blue and white panda cub), Reba (a gray bunny rabbit), and Darnell (a yellow and white duck).

Broadcast and home media

The series originally aired on PBS Kids from September 4, 2000, to February 25, 2003, with reruns continuing until October 2, 2022 on some PBS stations; very few still carry it. A British version with dubbed voices aired on BBC Two in April 2002, with reruns on CBeebies and later Tiny Pop. Internationally, TV-Loonland AG handled broadcast rights and Entertainment Rights held merchandising and home media rights. It aired on Discovery Kids in Latin America, TG4 in Ireland, Network Ten in Australia, TV2 in New Zealand, and Nickelodeon in Benelux. Lionsgate (formerly Artisan/FHE) released home media in the US, and Alliance Atlantis in Canada. The series streams on Tubi and The Roku Channel.

In other media

Before the TV series, six direct-to-video episodes were produced by Nelvana Limited and Scholastic Media in 1988, released by Family Home Entertainment, with Brent Titcomb as Clifford and Alyson Court as Emily Elizabeth. In 2004, Warner Bros. Pictures distributed Clifford's Really Big Movie, a feature-length animated film where Clifford, Cleo, and T-Bone join an animal show. The film was one of John Ritter's last works; he died on September 11, 2003, after completing voice work, and the film was dedicated to his memory.

It also stars Wayne Brady, Judge Reinhold, John Goodman, and Jenna Elfman. Due to Ritter's death, the film serves as the series finale. Additional media include educational software titles such as Clifford's Reading, Clifford's Thinking Adventures, Clifford's Learning Activities, Clifford's Musical Memory Games, Clifford's Phonics, and Clifford's Big Puzzle Game (a Wendy's kids' meal DVD). Promotional partnerships included Kix, Chuck E. Cheese, Milton Bradley, Lipton, Danimals, and Buffets, Inc.