Clifford's Puppy Days
| Clifford's Puppy Days | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 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 |
| Theme music composer |
Jared Faber Emily Kapnek |
| Opening theme | "Love Makes Little Things Grow" by Freedom Brenner |
| Ending theme | "Love Makes Little Things Grow" (Instrumental) |
| Composer(s) | Emily Kapnek |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 39 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Scholastic |
| Release | |
| Original network | PBS |
| Original release | September 15, 2003 – December 30, 2004 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Clifford the Big Red Dog |
Clifford's Puppy Days is an animated children's television series that originally aired on both PBS and PBS Kids from September 15, 2003 to October 13, 2004. A prequel to the original Clifford the Big Red Dog, it features the adventures of Clifford during his puppy days before he became a big red dog and before moving to Birdwell Island.
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.
In the UK the show aired on CBeebies from 2004 to early 2011 and like the original series, the show was dubbed with British voice actors, replacing the original American soundtrack.
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.
- Storytime with Speckle - 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 (voiced by Lara Jill Miller as a puppy) - Pet number 2 (but dog number 1) 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 older sister is Daffodil (who is a rabbit), who cares very deeply for him.
- Emily Elizabeth Howard (voiced by Grey DeLisle) - The affectionate owner of Clifford and Daffodil. Her best friend is Nina.
- Daffodil (voiced by Kath Soucie) - 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". She sometimes gets annoyed by Clifford, but whenever Clifford is crying, scared, needs help, or just feels alone, she is always there for him.
- Nina (voiced by Masiela Lusha) - 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 (voiced by Orlando Brown) - One of the best friends of Emily Elizabeth. He loves to play basketball, and tries to be a good friend to Emily Elizabeth.
- Shun (voiced by Lauren Tom) - A young Japanese-American boy who is quiet, intelligent, and very proud of his Japanese heritage. Although he is not good at sports, he is always willing to give new things a try.
- Flo and Zo (voiced by LaTonya Holmes and Ogie Banks) - Brother and sister, but twins of 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 (voiced by Jess Harnell) - A brown dachshund who loves to have fun with his best friend, Clifford. His owner is Nina.
- Norville (voiced by Henry Winkler) - A bird who always has problems. He often calls Clifford "little red" or "pup".
- Mr. Solomon (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer) - 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 live in the laundromat. They have five playful children, Lucy, Lewis, Sophie, Sid, and a new baby.
- Bebe (voiced by Jill Talley) - A Golden Retriever Seeing-eye dog, who joins in on Clifford and his friends' fun whenever she can spare the time.
Stories
Each half-hour episode was divided into 2 stories.
- Keeping Cool
- Socks & Snooze
- The Monster in 3-B
- Cat-tastrophe
- Jorge and the Dog Run
- Clifford's Clubhouse
- Paw-print Picasso
- Hup Hup
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, and they now continue to run occasionally. WGTE Family and KQEH Kids still air reruns of the show as well.
Opening theme
The opening theme, "Love Makes Little Things Grow", was composed by Jared Faber & Emily Kapnek and performed by Freedom Bremner.[1]