Clifford the Big Red Dog (2019 TV series)

***Clifford the Big Red Dog*** is an American-Canadian flash-animated children's television series which is a reboot to the book series of the same name written by Norman Bridwell, the 2000 original series created by Deborah Forte and produced by Mike Young Productions, and is the third series in the franchise after the prequel spin-off *Clifford's Puppy Days* also produced by Mike Young Productions.

In addition to being a reboot, it is also a sequel, because PBS lists it as being the third season.

It was released on December 6, 2019 on Amazon Prime Video, and premiered a day later on PBS Kids. It is the first series to be produced in 16:9 widescreen. However, unlike the original TV series, the reboot has not yet aired in the UK, and it is unknown whether or not it will be dubbed for the British audiences if it ever premieres in the UK. The second part of season 1 was released on February 7, 2020. The executive producers of the show include Jennifer Oxley, best known for co-creating *Peg + Cat*, and Vince Commisso of 9 Story Media Group.

The series revolves around Emily Elizabeth Howard, a young girl who owns Clifford, a big red dog who can speak to her for the first time since the late 1980s-early 1990s direct-to-video series. Together the two friends explore their island home, Birdwell Island, and embark on adventures.

## Characters

### Main

* Clifford (voiced by Adam Sanders) – A big red dog that grew once Emily, his owner, loved him a lot. He now wears a studded collar. Unlike the books and 2000 television series, Clifford can speak to Emily, but only when they're alone much like the original 1988 home video series.
* Emily Elizabeth Howard (voiced by Hannah Levinson) – An affectionate 9-year-old girl and the owner of Clifford. Unlike the original series, she now wears a light yellow shirt, and has a cyan hair clip, bracelets, and shoes.
	+ Mrs. Howard (voiced by Alison Brooks) – Emily's mother. Like in the books, Mrs. Howard has black hair, while in the original TV series, she was a blonde.
	+ Mr. Howard (voiced by John Cleland) – Emily's father. Like in the books, Mr. Howard has short brown hair and wears glasses, while in the original TV series, he had fully grown brown hair and perfect eyesight.

### Human friends

* Samantha Mulberry (voiced by Jenna Weir) – Emily's best friend and Bailey's owner. She has an orange shirt, blue pants, bracelets, and blue shoes.
	+ Ms. Mulberry and Dr. Mulberry (voiced by Julie Lemieux and Maggie Cassella) – Samantha's mothers.
* Jack Morgan (voiced by Josiah Stewart) – One of Emily's friends.
* Pablo Flores (voiced by Niko Ceci) – One of Emily's friends. He has a blue shirt, blue pants and green shoes. In addition, Pablo is Hero's owner.
* Fire Chief Franklin (voiced by John Cleland), Tucker's owner. He is Birdwell Island's principal fire fighter.
* Mrs. Clayton (voiced by Raven Dauda), Willa's owner. She owns a library on a boat.
* Ms. Ellerby (voiced by Alison Brooks), Birdwell Island's lifeguard
* Mr. Basu (voiced by Sugith Varughese), the island's mail carrier
* Fisherman Charlie (voiced by Sugith Varughese), Hudson's owner.

### Animal friends

* Bailey (voiced by Bahia Watson) – One of Clifford's dog friends. She is an Australian Shepherd who wears a pink bow. Samantha is her owner.
* Tucker (voiced by Julie Lemieux) – One of Clifford's dog friends. He is a Dalmatian who wears a yellow collar. Fire Chief Franklin is his owner.
* Willa (vocal effects provided by Hannah Levinson) - A grey kitten who is owned by Miss Clayton, the librarian. In segments between Emily Elizabeth and Clifford's adventures, she is seen having her own adventures with animals who are more her size.
* Hero - (voiced by Matt Folliott) - Pablo's dog. He is a beagle. His name derives from Pablo's hobby of reading about superheroes in comic books.
* Hudson - (voiced by Markeda McKay) - Fisherman Charlie's dog. She is a Yorkshire terrier.
* Shelly - Samantha's hermit crab.

## Production

A reboot of *Clifford the Big Red Dog* was announced on May 16, 2018 by Scholastic, and released in late 2019. Scholastic and 100 Chickens Productions in the United States, and Brown Bag Films and 9 Story Media Group in Canada produce the series.

On November 22, 2019, the theme song and a sneak peek clip of an episode were released.

In preparing for the role of the voice of Clifford, Adam Sanders stated that he watched episodes of the 2000s television series and studied John Ritter's performance as Clifford, stating that Ritter portrayed the character as very optimistic, and very youthful, full of compassion.

## Episodes

The first season of the series is slated to have 39 22-minute episodes.

## Reception

*Clifford the Big Red Dog* received generally mixed reviews from critics, with parents praising it for its fun songs, lessons, and creativity; but older fans of the original disagreed, responding with negative reviews. Reasons for criticism included the removal of all the previous characters, switch of format and the inclusion of the LGBT parenting, among other reasons. IMDb currently holds a score of 6.2 out of 10, based on 65 ratings and 11 user reviews.

## Broadcast

The first 7 episodes of *Clifford the Big Red Dog* were released on Amazon Prime Video on December 6, while PBS Kids began airing the series the next day.

## External links

* *Clifford the Big Red Dog* on PBS Kids
* Clifford the Big Red Dog Wikia
* Season 3 on Clifford the Big Red Dog Wikia