Clifford Howard, also known as Clifford the Big Red Dog, is the titular main protagonist of Clifford the Big Red Dog. He is the 2-year-old pet dog of Emily Elizabeth Howard and the second pet of Emily Elizabeth after she got her first pet and also best friend of Cleo, T-Bone and Mac. Clifford gained his massive size from the amount of love he received from Emily Elizabeth. He is voiced by John Ritter.
Personality[]
Clifford is a helpful, outgoing and loyal friendly dog. He will always provide help to his friends in their times of need and give them amazing friendly advice. However, his attitude towards others can be naive and gullible, as he can be too trusting. Clifford has had a habit of believing what he is told is correct, unless he knows from previous experience or is highly confident such a statement is incorrect.
Appearance[]
Clifford was much smaller than Emily as a puppy, as seen in Don't Lead Me A Stray.
Clifford was originally a small puppy, but he grew to a gargantuan size, which sometimes gets him into trouble. He is sometimes goaded into trouble by his friends and those he meets.
His size is inconsistent—he is often shown as being about 25' tall from paws to head, but can appear far larger. Emily Elizabeth gave him a huge amount of love, which caused his big size.
Trivia[]
- In the 1988 home video series and the 2019 series, Clifford can speak to Emily Elizabeth, but only when they're alone.
- Clifford was given a prequel series Clifford's Puppy Days that took place during his puppyhood prior to the Howards' move to Birdwell Island. In this series, Clifford is voiced by Lara Jill Miller.
- Two human years are the same equivalent to fourteen dog years.
- Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021) is the first Clifford media installment where he doesn’t speak in human language in any form. Instead, he just makes regular dog sounds.
- Clifford does not like being away from Emily Elizabeth as revealed in the Episode, The Big Sleepover. When he started to miss her, he started whimpering which woke up Charley, but then he started howling which woke up the rest of the residents, including the Bleakmans. Luckily, no one was mad, but they did feel bad for Clifford.
- Clifford only cried in “Clifford and the Beanstalk”. but due to his size, his tears are like raindrops and those who are under him will need an umbrella to avoid getting wet.
- Clifford in the live-action film was originally going to be voiced by Claire Blackwelder as a puppy and Gerald Urquhart as a big red dog.
- In the theme song named after him, what "I love" means is "It's almost time for" in the first verse, and in the second verse, what it means is "It's really time for" just to make the show start.
- His voice actor, John Ritter had passed away in 2003 from lung cancer 7 months after the original 2000 series ended. The film Clifford's Really Big Movie premiered in 2004 posthumously in his honor.
Voices[]
- Brent Titcomb (1988-1992)
- John Ritter (2000-2002, 2004)
- Adam Sietz (Clifford the Big Red Dog: Thinking Adventures)
- Frank Welker (vocal effects in Clifford the Big Red Dog: Thinking Adventures)
- Lara Jill Miller (Clifford’s Puppy Days)
- Adam Sanders (2019-present, reboot series)
- Claire Blackwelder (2021-film as a small dog, unused)
- Gerald Urquhart (2021-film as a big dog, unused)
