CLIFFORD’S REALLY BIG MOVIE

PBS and Scholastic Books take their CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG cartoon series and books, starring the voice of the late John Ritter, to the big screen in CLIFFORD’S REALLY BIG MOVIE. The movie captures the sweetly silly antics of Clifford, a giant Irish setter, and his goofy canine friends, Cleo, a fancy poodle, and T-Bone, an eager bulldog.

Clifford lives with Emily Elizabeth and her family on an island. As the movie opens, Clifford and his friends catch an amazing animal act at a carnival. Run by an amiable chap named Larry (voiced by Judge Reinhold), the act includes a Chihuahua lifting weights, a dachshund on rocket skates, a diving ferret, and a tightrope-walking cow afraid of heights. The act is always a disaster, losing money. The ferret decides that Clifford would help the act win the annual Tummy Yummies Pet Foods talent contest, supplying a lifetime supply of Tummy Yummies. Clifford is flattered, but he doesn’t want to leave Emily Elizabeth.

The next day, however, Clifford overhears the neighbor tell Elizabeth’s parents that it must be difficult feeding a giant dog like Clifford. Clifford decides to leave home and take the animals up on their offer, so that his family won’t have to pay so much money to feed him. He and his friends set off across the bay to the mainland to search for the carnival. Clifford makes the act a success, but the ferret gets jealous and causes trouble.

CLIFFORD’S REALLY BIG MOVIE is a good, clean outing for preschool children and first graders. Cleo, T-Bone, and the other crazy animals will even make adults laugh. The ending could be a little bit more imaginative, however.

Clifford’s big screen antics portray a strong moral worldview, with redemptive elements. There is an anti-capitalist element, in that the villains turn out to be the rich owner of Tummy Yummies and his spoiled daughter, but they both repent in a way that doesn’t attack the moral and biblical legitimacy of capitalism. In the Bible, God ordains that people work to earn a living, own businesses, and accumulate wealth, but He also tells us, “Man does not live on bread alone.” Thus, in a way, CLIFFORD’S REALLY BIG MOVIE reflects a biblical attitude toward business and wealth. The movie also has some slapstick violence, but it isn’t as strong as some of the Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry cartoons.