Clifford's Really Big Movie

Clifford's Really Big Movie is a 2004 American children's animated comedy film loosely based on the book series, Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell and more based on the classic PBS Kids TV series adapted from it. This film was directed by Robert C. Ramirez, produced by Scholastic Corporation's film division, Scholastic Films in association with Big Red Dog Productions, and released to theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures on February 20, 2004. This was John Ritter's final film role as he had died of aortic dissection on September 11, 2003, after completing voice work for the film as Clifford. The film was dedicated to his memory and also serves as the series finale to the show as no new episodes were produced to continue from where it had left off.

The film notably depicts characters with sclera, in contrast to the books and TV series, which portrayed every character except the giant Clifford with black bead eyes.

Due to John Ritter's death in 2003, the film and Getting to Know You serves as the series finale to Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Plot
When Clifford, Emily Elizabeth, and their friends visit the fair, Clifford, Cleo, and T-Bone are amazed by a terrible animal act known as Larry's Amazing Animals, consisting of Shackleford the Ferret, Dorothy the Cow, Dirk the Dachshund, and Rodrigo the Chihuahua. After the show, Shackleford discovers that the only way for their performances to continue is to win a Tummy Yummies Animal Talent Contest, promising fame, fortune, and a lifetime supply of Tummy Yummies. Clifford and his friends come to collect their autographs, and Shackleford attempts to convince them to join, believing Clifford's appearance will help them improve, however, none of them agree because they would not want to leave their owners.

The next day, Clifford overhears the Howard's conversation with their neighbor. He mistakenly believes he's a financial burden on the family and decides to join the Amazing Animals, with T-Bone and Cleo joining him. After escaping a town afraid of Clifford, the group finds Larry's animals. Since Larry cannot accept animals with owners, they dispose their tags, claiming they're to trick dogcatchers. Clifford helps the others improve their acts and immediately becomes the star of the show, much to Shackleford's annoyance. Meanwhile, Emily Elizabeth searches for Clifford and finds out he ran away.

Larry's Amazing Animals finally receives entry for the Tummy Yummies contest, and Shackleford tells Clifford how much he despises him, causing him to get angry and leave, although Cleo and T-Bone convince him to return. Larry's Amazing Animals wins the contest, but the CEO of Tummy Yummies, George Wolfsbottom, steals Clifford for his spoiled daughter Madison.

At a hotel, Shackleford tries to get everyone to realize Clifford just wanted the Tummy Yummies, prompting a furiously disgusted Cleo to expose his true intentions. Shackleford realizes he was wrong about him and show the tags to Larry, and he contacts Emily Elizabeth. The animals break Clifford out of his cage, but T-Bone accidentally sets off the alarm. The group narrowly escape, but Emily Elizabeth arrives on time to claim Clifford before Wolfsbottom could get him. Clifford reconciles with Shackleford, and he, his friends, and Emily Elizabeth return to Birdwell Island.

Voice cast (Us)

 * John Ritter as Clifford the Big Red Dog
 * Wayne Brady as Shackelford the Ferret
 * Grey DeLisle as Emily Elizabeth
 * Jenna Elfman as Dorothy the Cow
 * John Goodman as George Wolfsbottom
 * Judge Reinhold as Larry Gablegobble
 * Jess Harnell as Dirk the Dachshund
 * Kel Mitchell as T-Bone
 * Kath Soucie as Jetta / Madison
 * Cree Summer as Cleo
 * Wilmer Valderrama as Rodrigo the Chihuahua
 * Earl Boen as Mr. Bleakman
 * Cam Clarke as Mr. Howard / Marcus
 * Teresa Ganzel as Liza
 * Ernie Hudson as P.T.
 * Nick Jameson as Sheriff Lewis
 * Oren Williams as Charley

Additional Voices

 * Gregg Berger
 * Susan Blu
 * Alex Nevil
 * Toby Stone

Home media
The film was released on DVD and VHS on August 24, 2004 by Warner Home Video. In September 2015, it was re-released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

Trivia

 * This is John Ritter's last film role.
 * This is based on the television series. In the original children's books, Clifford never talked.
 * This was the last animated movie for Warner Bros. Pictures to be hand-drawn animated, as the studio started to produce computer-animated movies up until the release of Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi 2 (2006), which would be their next hand-drawn animated movie to be released in theaters. Both Clifford's Really Big Movie (2004) and Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi 2 (2006) released in the same year as two films from Pixar Animation Studios, being The Incredibles (2004) and Cars (2006), respectively.