As a movie aimed at young children, Clifford The Big Red Dog is at least appropriate for its intended audience. Unfortunately, this dog-as-big-as-a-pony show is not very appealing to anyone else. Despite a star-studded ensemble cast of comedians — and almost 60 years' worth of source material to draw from — not even toddlers will be howling with laughter at the movie's flimsy attempts at humor, which often resort to outdated stereotypes, overused gags, and potty humor. Clifford will entertain the youngest viewers, and is destined to be the kind of film preschoolers want to watch again and again, but most audiences will be bored by its stale jokes, two-dimensional characters, and lazy writing.
Clifford The Big Red Dog is a Walt Becker film with several writers receiving credit (never a good sign): Jay Scherick, David Ronn, and Blaise Hemingway wrote the screenplay, while Justin Malen and Ellen Rapoport are credited for the story. Norman Bridwell, of course, wrote the beloved book series that the movie is based on. Like the source material, Clifford The Big Red Dog is about a young girl named Emily Elizabeth who has a massive red dog as a pet. Despite the animal's giant size, he is a lovable, gentle, and kind companion. The 2021 movie takes significant liberty with the source material though, inventing two somewhat contradictory origin stories and making Clifford into a big red puppy (rather than a dog).
Despite the title, Clifford The Big Red Dog is really Emily Elizabeth's story. This version of the character, played by Darby Camp, is an unpopular do-gooder being raised by a single mom while attending a prestigious prep school on a scholarship (something the other students are quick to tease her about). For the majority of the movie though, she is being watched by her slacker uncle Casey (Jack Whitehall). She meets the tiny puppy version of Clifford at a traveling animal rescue tent, run by a mysterious Mr. Bridwell (John Cleese), and later finds the dog in her backpack. When Clifford inexplicably grows into a gigantic size overnight, Emily Elizabeth and Uncle Casey find themselves facing one large mouth to feed!
If that doesn't sound like enough of a premise to fill a 90-minute runtime, that's because it's not. The biggest problem with Clifford The Big Red Dog is that the core plot is woefully underdeveloped. Too much of the movie relies on the spectacle of a giant large puppy to keep the audience's attention. Rather than coming up with a strong, compelling narrative to justify a feature film, the movie is a mish-mash of disjointed — and often redundant — plot points that lack any logical continuity. The main conflict is the introduction of the villain Tieran (Tony Hale), the owner of the genetic engineering company Lifegro. Although they've largely been unsuccessful, Lifegro's mission is to genetically alter animals used for food. It makes some sense that such a company would want to experiment on an inexplicably humungous animal like Clifford, but from a narrative perspective, making the company trying to end world hunger the "bad guy" is a weird choice.
Many of the narrative and stylistic choices in Clifford The Big Red Dog detract from the film. Unlike the children's book, this version of the dog is more explicitly magical in origin; yet, the movie fails to fully embrace that tone, settling uncomfortably somewhere between mundane realism and ill-defined whimsy. Clifford himself always stands out; at times the CGI is impressive, but most of the time he looks like he doesn't belong. The tiny puppy version is particularly awkward-looking since it appears to just be the large model scaled way down. For a movie called Clifford, it doesn't seem too concerned with understanding — let alone honoring — its titular canine. The dog's personality, intelligence, and even motivations are entirely based on servicing the plot: he's an almost supernaturally intuitive animal when he needs to save the day, and a dumb puppy when the movie needs a laugh.
To her credit, Camp brings a lot of heart to the role of Emily Elizabeth, and the young actress has a promising future in the industry. Emily Elizabeth's friendship with Clifford is the heart of the story and Camp does her best to sell it. Despite her best efforts though, the end result feels both rushed and forced. The issue is the flimsy plot: events have little consequence, which robs moments of their weight. Clifford has no arc and the only change to his character in the movie is his size. Meanwhile, the movie wastes a number of beloved character actors who try their best to instill some charm in a lifeless script. Even Kenan Thompson, who has a bit part as a nervous veterinarian, feels bored in the role — and it's a sentiment the audience shares.
Despite its flaws, Clifford The Big Red Dog has flashes of fun, hinting at the kind of movie it could have been. Camp and Whitehall have good onscreen chemistry, and while Uncle Casey suffers from the same shallow characterization as the rest, he does have some of the movie's rare laugh-out-loud moments that adults can enjoy. Small children will appreciate the movie's simplicity and be delighted by Clifford's larger-than-life antics — there's a reason why so many classic children's movies feature dogs. Regardless, Clifford The Big Red Dog does little to elevate the IP, and is destined to be just a footnote in the beloved franchise's history.
Clifford The Big Red Dog releases theatrically on November 10, 2021 and is also available to stream on Paramount+. The film is 97 minutes long and is rated PG for impolite humor, thematic elements and mild action.
