Clifford the Big Red Dog

Clifford and all the other characters on Birdwell Island are so sweet, and through their adventures do a lot of social-emotional learning. The animation style is cute and simple without looking low-budget or low-quality. The voice acting is good-- the adults sound kind, the kids sound like kids, and they're all distinct. Clifford's voice is earnest and full of gentle inflection, and his doggie pals' voices are cute without being annoying. I also like the diversity of the characters, and the variety of interests Emily Elizabeth and her friends explore through reading books from the Library boat (an actual boat!)

Something extra special about this show is the music. There's a different song for every episode, and they're all total jams. The characters sing in the style of a musical-- the songs speak to the central theme or conflict of the episode, and move the plot along. So good.

I've seen a lot of reviews slamming this reboot for various reasons, but I really think this one is far superior. The characters are more distinct and three dimensional than in the original cartoon, Clifford and his doggie pals are more Iikeable, his relationship with Emily Elizabeth is sweeter, and the episode plots are far more interesting. I'd say overall, it's got a more wholesome tone and a better production value.

I really hope more episodes are produced, and that someone finally realizes they need to release a soundtrack!

This show does not deserve all the hate that it gets. Almost all of the people you'll see hating on this show are people that are overly nostalgic of the 2000 series. I will admit that when I saw this show for the first time, I was surprised at how much changed, but I learned to adjust to the changes, and now it's my favorite PBS Kids show. I think if more people gave it a chance and didn't make their opinion off of seeing just one episode, it could get better ratings and reviews. The songs are absolute fire and advanced for a children's show, and come in at the correct times. The show itself is advanced, and can appeal to teens way beyond it's age range, like me. It's entertaining, and isn't too childish. In short, it's definitely a must watch show, and you should give it a real chance before you make your opinion on it.

I enjoy all of the songs. They are catchy and fit the stories. Our toddler hums the song from the Aunt Violet episode while he plays.

When this was announced in May of 2018, I was excited since I loved the original 2000 cartoon as a kid. I even have a plush of Clifford, and read many of the books.

However, this reboot turned out to be disappointing, very much so. It can easily be compared to the Powerpuff Girls reboot in terms of how far removed from the original it is. In this review, I will eloquently explain my points instead of insulting everything with no evidence. Also, here's a disclaimer: The people working on this show are super talented and I wish no harm on them (unlike some people on this site...), and the show clearly had a lot of heart put into it, however I just can't get into it.

If you look at some of the older Clifford books, and compare it to this reboot, you'll notice that they don't really look similar. Instead, this reboot's animation and art style looks like a poor man's Peg + Cat. I know it's by the same company (100 Chickens) but that doesn't mean you have to make the shows look nearly identical. The tweening also looks off in some scenes, like in the theme song when the kids are running. The character designs are pretty forgettable. The kids in the original show had memorable designs, but the characters in this show have the same body type (all skinny; no plus size people; so much for diversity, huh?) same head shape, just with a different skin tone and clothes.

Aside from the designs, the characters themselves are pretty bland. All the characters have the exact same trait: they're all nice. That's it, just nice. They have different interests, like sailing and music, but they're all goody two-shoes besides that. A show where everyone is a perfect angel is super boring and uninteresting, because there's no variety. The original show had jerks like Jetta, Mac, and Mr. Bleakman to contrast the relaxing, nurturing tone of the show. No such characters exist in the reboot.

Like I mentioned before, this reboot makes so many changes that it's hardly recognizable to the original. The original show had the plots of the humans and dogs separated. In the reboot, they're intertwined and it feels so unnatural. On top of that, Emily Elizabeth and Clifford talk to each other, which, too, feels unnatural. It ruins the sense of dramatic irony that the original series had, that the humans didn't know that the dogs could talk. T-Bone and Cleo were removed from the reboot in favor of Bailey and Tucker, as were Jetta, Charley, and Vaz in favor of Samantha, Pablo, and Jack.

This was extremely disappointing, and I can recommend many other kids stuff to watch (that are good, contrary to popular belief) such as the original, Clifford's Puppy Days, Ready Jet Go, Steven Universe, Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, Its a Big Big World, Bluey, Gravity Falls, Green Eggs and Ham, Blue's Clues and You, Molly of Denali, Nature Cat, Oswald, Xavier Riddle, Let's Go Luna, Frozen II, Andi Mack, Gumball, Infinity Train, Bee and Puppycat, and Maggie and the Ferocious Beast

Compared to a lot of the flashier and more frenetic kids programs to come out recently, this is a refreshing and pleasant experience. We were not huge Clifford fans growing up, but our children love this show and I would recommend it.