Clifford's Puppy Days

Clifford's Puppy Days
Logo
Format	Animated television series
Created by	Norman Bridwell (characters)
Starring	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)

Clifford's Puppy Days is an animated television series on PBS Kids. It is a spin-off of the Clifford the Big Red Dog TV series, and it features Clifford the Big Red Dog, a popular cartoon character. It is set when Clifford was a puppy. Other characters are Clifford's friends, Norville (a bird), Jorge (a dachshund), Flo and Zo (two cats), and Daffodil (a rabbit).

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.

Foreign adaptations

In Britain, where the show was only 15 minutes long, the format consists of the central story, followed by Clifford's Idea to Grow On or Speckle Story.

Characters

• Clifford (as a puppy) - is 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 can sometimes get scared of some things, and cry a lot, but Daffodil usually is around him and calming him down when he is in those types of emotions.
• Emily Elizabeth Howard - is 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 to be a very neat rabbit. She also loves to take walks, take naps, eat carrots, and play with Clifford and her toys, she is also seen more in the show than any other character her catch phrase is "sure I'm sure". Clifford can be annoying to her sometimes, but whenever he is crying, scared, needs help, or he just feels alone, she responds to him and calms him down or helps him and is always the first to do it. She cares very deeply for Clifford more than any other character, she wears a purple bow on her head.
• Nina - is the sweet and enthusiastic owner of Jorge. Her best friend is Emily Elizabeth.
• Evan Thomas Taylor - is one of the best friends of Emily Elizabeth. He loves to play basketball. * Flo and Zo - are 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 - is a brown dachshund dog who loves to have fun with his best friend , Clifford. His owner is Nina.
• Norville - is a problematic bird who always have problems he often calls Clifford "little red" or "pup".
• Mr. Solomon - is a man who makes books. 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 - are a family of mice who lives in the laundromat. and Mrs. Sidarski They also have five playful children, Lucy, Lewis, Sophie, Sid and a new baby.

Cancellation

The show was ultimately short-lived, and hasn't aired ever since final reruns have aired in 2006. However, PBS aired the Halloween episode of Clifford's Puppy Days during October 2011; this serves as the show's final airing ever.

Opening theme

The opening theme, "Love Makes Little Things Grow", was composed by Jared Faber & Emily Kapnek and performed by Freedom Bremner, 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