Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021 film)

For the original movie from 2004, see Clifford's Really Big Movie.
Clifford the Big Red Dog is a live-action film that's directed by Walt Becker. The movie is based on the children's story books by Scholastic of the same name by Norman Bridwell. It stars Jack Whitehall, Darby Camp, Tony Hale, Sienna Guillory, Russell Wong, and John Cleese.
==Premise==
When middle-schooler Emily Elizabeth (Darby Camp) meets a magical animal rescuer (John Cleese) who gifts her a little, red puppy, she never anticipated waking up to find a giant ten-foot hound in her small New York City apartment. While her mom (Sienna Guillory) is away for business, Emily and her fun but impulsive uncle Casey (Jack Whitehall) set out on an adventure that will keep you on the edge-of-your-seat as our heroes take a bite out of the Big Apple. Based on the beloved Scholastic book character, Clifford will teach the world how to love big! 
==Plot==
Emily Elizabeth Howard is a young middle school student living with her mother Maggie in New York City. Emily is regularly bullied while finding comfort in her only friend Owen Yu. One day, Emily is left in the hands of her homeless and irresponsible uncle Casey while Maggie goes to Chicago for a business trip.
Mr. Bridwell, who runs an animal rescue tent at a carnival, introduces Emily to a small red puppy whose family had been stolen by a dogcatcher. He tells her that the puppy will grow bigger in size based on how much love he receives. Casey says no to the adoption, knowing that his sister will never allow it and that dogs are prohibited in her apartment building. When Emily gets home from school that day, after being bullied once again, she finds that the puppy has stowed away in her backpack and names him Clifford. Emily tries to convince Casey to let her keep him and he allows her to keep Clifford only for one night. A heartbroken Emily tearfully wishes for Clifford to be big and strong as her tears trickle onto his nose while falling asleep with him.
The next day, Emily wakes up to realize Clifford is gigantic in size. Casey also learns about this and they both attempt to hide him from the building's superintendent, Mr. Packard, as he fixes the dishwasher. They take him to the vet, thinking he is possibly ill while attempting to hide him from everyone. This fails dramatically since Clifford's dog instincts cause him to chase and play with a man in an inflatable bubble, seeing it as a game of fetch. This attracts large crowds and the word of his existence quickly spreads online. After learning from the vet's secretary of Mr. Bridwell's past miracles with animals and their owners, they plan to get information on his whereabouts from the private school's computer. As Emily is getting lunch for Clifford from the cafeteria, Clifford escapes from Casey's truck while one of the bullies, Florence, bumps into and bullies Emily again, only for Clifford to enter the cafeteria and humiliate Florence. This finally gives Emily the friends she always wanted.
Zac Tieran, the owner of a biotechnology company named Lyfegro, discovers Clifford on social media. He lies to the police that it is his dog and has them search for Clifford. Emily and Casey are evicted by Mr. Packard because of Clifford. After being chased by the police and Lyfegro guards, they take shelter in Owen's lavish apartment. Casey then makes a deal with Emily that if they find Mr. Bridwell and take his advice, he will allow her to keep him. But if he is unable to help, then they have to send him away to Shanghai by boat. They race to the hospital only to find Bridwell's empty bed, and a patient sitting next to them who tells that Mr. Bridwell died. Clifford is then sent away by a boat arranged by Owen's father, as Emily tearfully says goodbye to him.
The next day, Clifford is captured on the ship and sent to Lyfegro. Emily learns Mr. Bridwell did not die, but that the information they received at the hospital was false. They try to save Clifford from being operated on at Lyfegro, aided by friends from their neighborhood. They break into Lyfegro and rescue Clifford as they flee in Casey's truck with him, and race to Mr. Bridwell while being pursued by the police and Lyfegro's security guards. They eventually reach Mr. Bridwell at a carnival at Manhattan Bridge Park.
A large crowd gathers as Emily desperately asks Mr. Bridwell to help, and he tells her that the only way to solve her problem is by standing up for herself and for Clifford and that being different is a gift. Emily then gives an inspirational speech to the crowd, explaining to everyone that love is more important than anything, and they should ignore their differences. However, Zac intervenes and forces the police to see who the owner is by checking an ID chip he had implanted. Through a bit of magic, the chip identifies Emily as Clifford's rightful owner, and Zac is arrested for fraud and theft. The whole crowd attempts to take a picture with Clifford in celebration, but then Clifford sees another giant ball and chases it with Casey suddenly riding on his back.
Emily, Casey, and her mother are accepted back into their apartment by Mr. Packard, Casey gets a job at Scholastic and Clifford is now loved by everyone
==Cast==
*Darby Camp as Emily Elizabeth Howard, a 12-year-old girl who has to save Clifford from Lifegro.
*Jack Whitehall as Uncle Casey Howard, Emily's clumsy, but sweet uncle and Maggie's younger brother.
* Izaac Wang as Owen Yu, the boy from another apartment.
*John Cleese as Mr. Bridwell, the magical animal rescuer who gives Clifford to Emily. He is named for original Clifford creator Norman Bridwell.
*Russell Wong as Mr. Yu, Owen's dad.
*Paul Rodriguez as Sanchez, the bodega owner.
*Tony Hale as Zac Tieran, the CEO of Lifegro, a genetics company that kidnaps Clifford
*Russell Peters as Malik
*Sienna Guillory as Maggie Howard, Emily Elizabeth's mother and Casey's older sister who is on a business trip.
*Kenan Thompson as Clifford's veterinarian.
*David Alan Grier as Mr. Packard
*Rosie Perez as Lucille
*Jessica Keenan Wynn as Colette
*Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Petra
*Bear Allen-Blaine as Mrs. Jarvis, Emily's faithful lawyer who helps her save Clifford from Lifgro.
===Unused===
* Claire Blackwelder as Clifford (voice as a small red puppy, unused)
* Gerald Urquhart as Clifford (voice as a big red dog, unused)
==Production==
In May 2012, it was reported that Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment would produce a live-action/animated film based on the book. Matt Lopez was hired to write the script while Chris Meledandri and Deborah Forte were to produce,[19] but in July 2013, it was reported that Illumination cancelled the project.[20] On September 13, 2013, it was reported that the film was still in development at Universal Pictures with David Bowers in talks to direct the film.[21] Like the 2011 film Hop, the titular dog character will be animated while the other characters will be live-action.[21] In 2016, Paramount Pictures had purchased the rights to develop a live-action and animated hybrid film.[22] On September 25, 2017, it was reported that Walt Becker had been hired to direct from a script being re-written by Ellen Rapoport, and from the original written by Justin Malen, which would be produced by Forte through her Silvertongue Films banner.[23] On June 20, 2019, Paramount closed a deal with Entertainment One to co-finance the film. Under the deal, Entertainment One Films would distribute the film in Canada and the United Kingdom excluding TV broadcast rights for the latter country, while Paramount would distribute in all other territories including the United States.[1] On December 25, 2019, a photo from the film was leaked, revealing the computer-generated form of Clifford in the live-action scenery.
In May 2019, Darby Camp and Jack Whitehall signed on to star in the film.[26] In June 2019, John Cleese, Sienna Guillory, Izaac Wang, Kenan Thompson, Rosie Perez, David Alan Grier, Keith Ewell, Bear Allen-Blaine and Lynn Cohen joined the cast.[27][18] Principal photography began on June 10, 2019 in New York City and wrapped on August 23, 2019, after 55 days of shooting.[32] The visual effects were made by Moving Picture Company.
On November 18, 2020, it was announced that John Debney would compose the film's score.[34] The song "Room for You" performed by Madison Beer, was released on November 5, 2021.
Clifford the Big Red Dog was simultaneously released in wide theaters in Dolby Cinema and 3D formats and streaming on Paramount+ on November 10, 2021 in the United States.[11] It was initially scheduled to have its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival in September,[36] followed by a theatrical release on September 17 by Paramount Pictures,[37] but the festival premiere was cancelled and the studio removed the film from its release schedule due to the rise of the Delta variant of COVID-19.[38] It was originally scheduled to be released November 13, 2020, before being delayed to November 5, 2021[39][40] due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[41] Prior to that, Universal Pictures initially slated the then-unproduced film for April 8, 2016 and then pushed back to December 31, 2016. The film had a surprise unannounced screening on August 26, 2021 during the 2021 CinemaCon event in Los Angeles.[3] The film will be released in the UK on December 10, 2021.
Originally Clifford's speaking voice in this film was going to be provided by Claire Blackwelder as a puppy and Gerald Urquhart as a big red dog, however Claire and Gerald were busy to provide his speaking voices and it is unknown if Blackwelder and Urquhart didn't come to CinemaCon in order to voice Clifford as a puppy or a big red dog because they was too busy to voice him.
Claire Blackwelder will provide Clifford's voice for a while as a small red puppy in the film after Clifford grows, Gerald Urquhart will start voicing Clifford for the rest of the film as a big red dog, and Claire will have to stop voicing Clifford as a big red dog and Gerald will start voicing Clifford as a big red dog and Clifford as a big red dog will be voiced by Gerald Urquhart rather than Claire Blackwelder. It is also stated that Claire can't shout enough to voice the character.
==Gallery==
===Photos===
Clifford_the_Big_Red_Dog_2021_(3).png
Clifford_the_Big_Red_Dog_2021_(2).jpg
===Videos===
Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021) - Official Trailer - Paramount Pictures
Clifford the Big Red Dog - Final Trailer
CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG – Exclusive Interview (Darby Camp, Jack Whitehall) - AMC Theatres 2021
CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG – Exclusive Interview (Darby Camp, Jack Whitehall) - AMC Theatres 2021-2
Category:Movies
Category:Films
Category:Theatrical films