Clifford, the Big Red…Puppy? How the New Clifford Movie Teaser Gets it All Wrong
Paramount Pictures dropped a teaser for its new Clifford the Big Red Dog movie Wednesday, and the internet is not happy.
This is nothing new. Movie studios seem hell-bent on larding their live action movies with one eldritch horror or another; if it’s not humanoid representations straight outta the uncanny valley (like Will Smith’s creepy-looking Genie in Aladdin,) it’s unpleasantness like Sonic the Hedgehog with human teeth or the inclusion (or exclusion) of buttholes from Cats.
And now Paramount execs, utterly unable to read the room that is 2020, have added yet another item to the list of things that shouldn’t be: a live-action Clifford.
Reactions are divided: sure, it’s a cute kids’ movie, as some point out, but it also looks like someone dipped a golden retriever puppy in dark red dye and blew it up in Photoshop. Which leads to another issue: Clifford was never a giant puppy.
In the delightful Scholastic children’s book published in 1963 by Norman Bridwell, Clifford is a tiny puppy who grows enormous after being adopted by Emily Elizabeth, his human companion throughout the Clifford series.
Here, Clifford, clearly a puppy, is already roughly 8 feet tall, leading one to wonder who would take home a dog that big? Emily Elizabeth’s parents would have to know it would soon be so large as to eclipse the sun. They must have a lot of confidence in their dog training skills, as well as plenty of money for kibble.
The eerie shade chosen for Clifford also drew fans’ ire; in the books and the cartoon series, Clifford is a vivid, fire-engine red. This pup has been tinted the slightly nauseating hue of coagulating blood.
This version of the kaiju-sized pup inspired Twitter wags to complain, with one asking “What in the Stephen King is this?” and another saying “It’s supposed to be a bright, vibrant red, not a ‘I was bleeding 3 hours ago red’.”
Not everyone was upset, of course, and this is only a brief glimpse from the movie, set to be released in 2021. When Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog design drew near-universal disdain, the studio went back to the drawing board, reworking the character and pushing the release date back three months to accommodate the changes.
So what do you think – are you cool with this Clifford or no? Let us know in the comments!