Clifford's Puppy Days

Clifford's Puppy Days
Logo
Format	Animated television series
Created by	Norman Bridwell (characters)
Voices of	Lara Jill Miller Grey DeLisle Cam Clarke Kath Soucie Masiela Lusha Orlando Brown LaTonya Holmes Ogie Banks Jess Harnell Lauren Tom Henry Winkler Candi Milo
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of episodes	39
Production
Running time	35 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	PBS Kids
Original run	September 15, 2003 (2003-09-15) – October 13, 2004 (2004-10-13)
Chronology
Preceded by	Clifford the Big Red Dog

Clifford's Puppy Days is a short-lived animated children's television series that originally aired on PBS Kids from September 15, 2003 to October 13, 2004. A spin-off of the original Clifford the Big Red Dog, it is set before the original series, and features the adventures of Clifford during his puppy days before he grew.

The series was cancelled in 2004 following low ratings. Reruns aired regularly following the cancellation, though they were halted in 2006. Since then, occasional reruns continue to air.

Setting

The series focuses on when Clifford is a tiny red puppy, the runt of the litter in a litter of puppies given birth to by the pet dog of Emily Elizabeth's neighbor, Mr. Bradley (who appeared in an episode of the first cartoon series, "Little Clifford"), and after he had been adopted by Emily Elizabeth and before he grew up into a giant red adult dog, forcing the Howards to move to Birdwell Island so Clifford would have plenty of room, so the series shows Clifford and Emily Elizabeth's life and friends before they moved from the city to Birdwell Island and all of their adventures.

Format

The show followed the same format as its predecessor, Clifford the Big Red Dog.

• The opening theme is followed by the first central story, which is about the dogs, and a problem they face.
• Speckle Story - Between the first and second story, Emily Elizabeth reads Clifford the Speckle Story, a small 60 seconds (approximately) time filler about a fictional dog (Speckle), and his animal friends.
• This is followed by another central story, about Emily Elizabeth and her friends.
• Clifford's Idea to Grow On - Before the credits, another 30 second short takes place called Clifford's Idea to Grow On. The short is basically an animation of an etiquette, a proverb, or basic truth such as "Play Fair", "Help Others", etc., with narration by Emily Elizabeth. This short was called Clifford's Big Idea in the previous series.

Characters

• Clifford (as a puppy) - Pet number 2 of Emily Elizabeth. An ironically small puppy who is highly playful and always looks forward to meet new friends. He loves to play with his toys, eat dog treats, and like Daffodil he loves to take naps. His best friend is Jorge and his sister is Daffodil, who cares very deeply for him. He sometimes gets scared, and cries a lot, but Daffodil usually is around and calms him down.

• Emily Elizabeth Howard - The affectionate owner of Clifford and Daffodil. Her best friend is Nina.

• Daffodil - A Holland Lop, pet number 1 of Emily Elizabeth, and also Clifford's helper, protector, and sister. She is portrayed as a very neat rabbit. She loves to take walks, take naps, eat carrots, and play with Clifford and her toys. Her catch phrase is "sure I'm sure." Clifford annoys her sometimes, but whenever he is crying, scared, needs help, or just feels alone, she is always there for him.

• Nina - is the sweet and enthusiastic owner of Jorge. Her best friend is Emily Elizabeth. Sometimes, however, Nina is shown to be insensitive to others' feelings, which causes rifts between her and her friends, although they always make up in the end.

• Evan Thomas Taylor - One of the best friends of Emily Elizabeth. He loves to play basketball.

• Flo and Zo - Kittens who are very playful. They usually love to play with each other or play with their other friends. They are owned by Mr. Solomon. In the episodes "The Big, Big Present/Hanukkah Plunder Blunder," it is revealed that they and Mr. Solomon are Jewish.

• Jorge - A brown dachshund who loves to have fun with his best friend, Clifford. His owner is Nina.

• Norville - A problematic bird who always has problems. He often calls Clifford "little red" or "pup".

• Mr. Solomon - A wheelchair-bound writer. Flo and Zo are his two pet kittens. In the episodes "The Big, Big Present/Hanukkah Plunder Blunder," it is revealed that he, Flo and Zo are Jewish.

• The Sidarskis - A family of mice who lives in the laundromat. They have five playful children, Lucy, Lewis, Sophie, Sid, and a new baby.

Cancellation

The show was ultimately short-lived, and hasn't aired since final reruns aired in 2006. However, PBS aired the Halloween episode of Clifford's Puppy Days during October 2011; this serves as the show's final national original-run airing. In mid-December 2011, Georgia Public Broadcasting started airing reruns of the show on the GPB Kids station.

Opening theme

The opening theme, "Love Makes Little Things Grow", was composed by Jared Faber & Emily Kapnek and performed by Joseph Kony, a native of Washington, D.C. (See credits).

External links

• Clifford's Puppy Days at the Internet Movie Database
• Clifford's Puppy Days at TV.com