Let’s stop there a moment. The bullying
plotline has its narrative purpose, but “Food
Stamp”? Is this an actual middle-school insult,
or something a group of grown-up writers
came up with but forgot to test on real kids? In
any case this jarring economic diss, repeated
a few times, feels way crueler than anything
uttered by the film’s purported villain, a
slimy entrepreneur (Tony Hale) who wants to
replicate Clifford’s DNA to create giant food,
feed the world and presumably get rich.
Mom Maggie (Sienna Guillory, who doesn’t
have much to do here) goes away for business,
leaving brother Casey in charge. One morning
he and Emily stop at a strange pop-up animal
rescue tent run by mysterious Mr. Bridwell
— that would be John Cleese, and the name
is a nod to original “Clifford” author Norman
Bridwell. The man shows them a tiny, red
abandoned puppy. Emily is besotted. How big
does he get, she asks? “That depends on how
much you love him,” Bridwell replies.
Casey, sensible for once, says no to adopting
the pup. But Clifford somehow sneaks into
Emily’s backpack. When, that evening, she
cuddles him and wishes they could both be
big and strong, Clifford takes this literally. By
morning, he’s a giant. (Why, when this becomes
a major liability, Emily’s love can’t simply shrink
Clifford back again is not explained.)
Unsurprisingly, Clifford develops an Instagram
presence. That gets the attention of our
aforementioned villain. But he and his shady
guys with earpieces have nothing against the
ragtag Dream Team of Emily, her adorable
friend Owen (Izaac Wang), Casey, and