Clifford's Really Big Movie (2025)

For the original movie from 2021, see Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021 film).Clifford's Really Big Movie is a 2004 American animated adventure film loosely based on the series of children's books drawn and written by Norman Bridwell and more based on its TV series. It was released in theaters on February 22, 2004.

Due to John Ritter's death in 2003: the film serves as the final part to Clifford the Big Red Dog, although, the show's spin-off Clifford's Puppy Days continued to air before concluding in 2006. The show would be remade with the 2019 reboot.

Plot:[]

When Clifford hears Mr. Bleakman say that feeding him must cost a lot of money, he realizes that his size is costing the Howards a fortune and decides to do something about it. A carnival act called "Larry's Amazing Animals" has just been in town, and the animals in the show told Clifford about an animal contest with a prize of a lifetime supply of Tummy Yummies. So he decides to run away along with Cleo and T-Bone, join the carnival act, win the contest, and bring the food back home, so Emily Elizabeth can keep him. There, they meet Dorothy the Cow, Shackleford the Ferret, Rodrigo the Chihuahua, Dirk the Dachshund Dog, and the Amazing Larry. Soon Clifford is the star of the show, and Shackleford the Ferret, who'd always been the star, gets jealous. Meanwhile, George Wolfsbottom, the CEO of the Tummy Yummy corporation wants Clifford for his spoiled daughter, Madison. So it looks like getting home may be more difficult than Clifford thought.

Synopsis:[]

The movie starts out on Birdwell Island with Emily Elizabeth calling out to Clifford. After calling him, Clifford comes out from the trees in the forest and runs up to Emily. Emily tells Clifford that they're going to be late for a carnival that just arrived on the island. So Emily gets onto Clifford's back and gives her a ride as the head to the carnival.

At the carnival, Mrs. Diller and Cleo meet Sheriff Lewis and T-Bone. Mrs. Diller tells Sheriff Lewis that she and Cleo always loved the rides at the carnival, while Sheriff Lewis tells her that he and T-Bone always loved the food. Meanwhile, Emily, Charley and Jetta get on a ride that spins, which makes Clifford dizzy as he watches it with them riding it. Cleo and T-Bone then come and say hi to Clifford, remaking that the carnival is the best. After the spinning ride stops, Emily, Charley and Jetta get off wondering what they should do next, but Jetta, feeling queasy, doesn't want to go on anymore rides as she feels too sick. Emily, Charley, Jetta, Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone then see a sign for a show called, Larry's Amazing Animals, and Emily decides that they should see it. Jetta thinks so since nothing's moving, so they go to see the show.

At the show, a man named Larry Gabblegobble comes on stage and introduces himself to the audience, and is proud to present to them, the most "Amazing Animals" they're ever see. As a drum rolls, Larry presents the first animal of the show, a little chilhuahua named, Rodrigo. However, all the kids in the audience laugh when they see him due to his small size, but Larry tells them to not let his size fool him, as he prepares to lift up bell bars. Rodrigo grabs the bell bars and starts to try to lift them up, but he isn't able to yet and he loses his balance and the bell bars and Rodrigo crash through the stage platform. Larry then presents the audience his next animal, a dachshund named, Dirk. Dirk turns on a pair of turbo-powered roller skates he's wearing and rockets down a rap. As soon as he flies off the rap, he starts flying all over the audience, just a few inches over their heads. Dirk then rockets up into the air just as his roller skates run out off juice and he parachutes down. Larry tells the audience to get an applause, but no one yet claps or cheers. Next, Larry presents his next animal, a cow named Dorothy, who was going to walk on a tight rope. As Dorothy whispers to herself, she walks slowly across the tight rope. Jetta thinks it to be "so lame", but Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone think it to be "so amazing". Larry then presents his next animal which is the star of his show, a ferret named Shackleford. Shackleford swings on a trapeze and swings one trapeze to another. After swinging on a butch of trapezes, Shackleford lands on Dorothy's head. Larry then tosses three red bowling pins to Shackleford and he starts juggling them. However, as soon as a balloon flies upwards out of a little boy's hand and past Dorothy and Shackleford, the boy starts crying because his balloon flew away, which causes Dorothy to look down and see how far down the ground is. Dorothy then gets terrified and starts wobbling on the tight rope and Shackleford drops the bowling pins which land on Larry's head. Dorothy then falls and starts hanging upside down, causing her weight to pull down the tight rope. Rodrigo quickly grabs onto one of the ropes attached to one of the pegs holding it to try to keep the tight ripe steady, while Shackleford tries to tell Dorothy to not look down. The peg and rope Rodrigo was holding onto then breaks lose from the ground and swings him around one of the tight rope poles, tangling him. Larry then catches Dorothy on her back and Shackleford gets slingshoted upwards high into the air and Dorothy lands on the stage platform right onto of Larry. When Larry tries to tell the audience everything's alright, Shackleford lands right on top of Larry's head. P.T. saw the whole thing and wasn't liking what he was seeing.

After the show, Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone thought the animals really were amazing, so Cleo decides that should back and get their autographs, which Clifford thinks is a great idea. Inside Larry and his animals' tent, Larry tells Dirk that he was wicked, Rodrigo that he was patental, Dorothy that she rocked down the house and Shackledford that he was the shining star of the show. P.T. then comes into the tent wanting to talk to Larry, so Larry tells his animals that he'll be right back. The animals wonder what P.T. wants, while wondering, Shackleford goes outside the tent and sees P.T. talking to Larry. P.T. was telling Larry his show is failing, but Larry keeps asking him to give him a little more time. P.T. then reminds Larry they has the same conversation a hundred times. P.T. wants to take back Larry's tent and bus, since his carnival is not a charity. Larry tries to convince P.T. his show gotten better, but P.T. suggests to Larry that he just doesn't think he could give him anymore time. Larry then tells him all he needs is three more weeks. When P.T. asks him what could he do in three weeks that he haven't done in three years, Larry takes him into his bus and he shows him. Larry turns on his TV and shows P.T. a commercial for a Tummy Yummies Pet Talent Contest. The CEO of the Tummy Yummies Corporation, George Wolfsbottom introduces himself and his daughter Madison on the commercial and tells how the winner of the contest will win fame, fortune and a life time supply of Tummy Yummies. After Larry turns the TV off, P.T. isn't concerned of that being Larry's plan. Larry then shows P.T. a magazine add that shows the next and final competition is in three weeks. P.T. then tells Larry he'll give him three weeks, but then after that, the bus, tent and everything goes back to him, and Larry thanks him. P.T. then throws the add away in the trash and Shackleford finds it. When Shackleford looks at the add, he finds out about the Tummy Yummies Pet Talent Contest.

Shackleford then goes back into the tent and tells Dirk, Rodrigo and Dorothy that he's got news for them. He shows them the add telling them it's their destiny, because it's a contest that they're going to win, since it's for talented, unique, Amazing Animals. The animals bet their show could win it, but Shackleford tells them they need to think outside the cage, they'll need something new, something that people never seen before. As Shackleford convinces the animals they need something big, Clifford comes into the tent. When he says hello to Shackleford and the other animals, they get scared and run and hide. When the animals peak out from where they hid, Clifford looks into a chest where Shackleford was hiding. Shackleford terrifyingly tells Clifford to please not eat him, but Clifford tells him that he doesn't really want to eat him and he just wants he and the other animals' autographs. Cleo and T-Bone then also come into the tent and Clifford introduces himself and Cleo and T-Bone to the animals. Cleo and T-Bone tell them they loved their show. Shackleford then gets pleased to meet them and asks them if they'd like to join their cast. Shackleford explains to them that joining their show is just the beginning and he shows them the add for the Tummy Yummies Pet Talent Contest, telling them that the winner wins fame, fortune and life time supply of Tummy Yummies, which excites the dogs about it. Clifford thanks Shackleford for showing them the add, but as he was about to tell them they couldn't leave their owners, Cleo suggests to the they should have a conversation about it. When they leave the tent Cleo suggests they should consider joining the Amazing Animals, but Clifford tells Cleo that he would never leave Emily Elizabeth and T-Bone would never leave Sheriff Lewis, and Mrs. Diller would really miss her if she left her as well. Cleo realizes she never thought about it, and it just seems so exciting to her. When the Amazing Animals come out of the tent, Clifford apologizes to them saying it does sound like fun, but they're going to stick around on Birdwell Island, but he still thanks them. Before Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone leave, Shackleford gives them the add, telling in case they change their minds, they'll be with P.T.'s carnival tomorrow night on the main land. Clifford says good bye to the animals and the animals say good bye to him and his friends, but Shackleford was disappointed that Clifford and his friends decided to not join them.

The next day, Clifford and Emily Elizabeth wake up and Emily gives Clifford his breakfast, which were lot's of Tummy Yummies. Next door, Horace Bleakman watches Emily give Clifford his breakfast and couldn't believe his eyes from how big Clifford's supply of Tummy Yummies is. Emily's parents, Mark and Caroline then come into the backyard and say good morning to Emily and Clifford. When Mark and Caroline say good morning to Mr. Bleakman, he tells them he doesn't really know how they could feed Clifford year after year since he's got one big appetite, Mark adds that it's really huge. When Mr. Bleakman asks Mark and Caroline how much does Clifford eat, Caroline states that he eats quite a lot. Clifford starts to hear Mr. Bleakman talking to Mark and Caroline about feeding him and gets shocked. When Mr. Bleakman says that feeding must be a "big problem", Clifford couldn't believe what he hears and runs off. Caroline however then tells Mr. Bleakman that they love Clifford and Mark adds he's part of their family, but Clifford didn't hear them.

As Clifford sadly walks through the neighborhood, he wonders what to do since Mr. Bleakman said feeding him must cost a lot of money. He then suddenly remembers what Shackleford said last night, about the Tummy Yummies Pet Talent Contest and what the winner wins. This gives Clifford and idea and he heads off to Mrs. Diller's house. There, Cleo and T-Bone were tugging on a scarf when Clifford arrives. Clifford then asks where is the add from Larry's Amazing Animals is, and Cleo tells him it's in a pile of stuff. Clifford tells Cleo and T-Bone about Mr. Bleakman saying he's a problem of being feed because he eats too much and the Howards can't afford to feed him. T-Bone thinks Clifford just misunderstood him, like what he always does, but Clifford states he didn't and he heard him loud and clear. So Clifford has decided to join Larry's show and win the Tummy Yummies Contest. Cleo and T-Bone are shocked to hear what he says since he'll leave Emily Elizabeth, but Clifford explains he won't leave her forever, but just long enough to win a life time supply of food. Clifford then good bye to Cleo and T-Bone, takes the add, and heads off, and Cleo and T-Bone sadly say good bye to Clifford. That night, Emily says good night to Clifford, and she gives him a big kiss. Before Emily leaves his doghouse, Clifford wants Emily to give him one more kiss, and she does do. Emily then goes back into her house to go to bed. After Emily goes inside, Clifford looks at the add and gets ready to leave. Clifford walks up to Emily's house and looks through her bedroom window while Emily is asleep. Clifford then says good bye to Emily, but promises he'll come back to her soon.

During sunrise, Clifford heads off to the beach. As soon as he gets there, he is about to swim to run away from Birdwell Island onto the mainland USA. But just as Clifford was about to start swimming, Cleo calls out to him. He looks back and sees Cleo and T-Bone behind him, as his friends refuse to let him go on a great big adventure without them. Clifford gets delighted that Cleo and T-Bone would do that for him. Clifford asks Cleo and T-Bone are they sure they want to do it, and they sure are. So Clifford lowers down his head and Cleo and T-Bone climb on top of him. Clifford with Cleo and T-Bone on his head then goes into the water and starts swimming, leaving Birdwell Island and to the mainland. When it was morning, Emily wakes up and gets out of bed. But when she opens her bedroom window's curtains, she notices that Clifford isn't there. When she looks around the back yard, she worriedly wonders where Clifford is.

On the main land, Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone arrive and Clifford jumps onto a dock where two fishermen were fishing. When the two fishermen see Clifford, they get scared and they fall into the water. When Clifford arrives on a beach, all the people see Clifford and when they do, they all get very scared and scream and run for their lives. Clifford wonders whats the matter with them since they look scared, and T-Bone thinks maybe they saw sharks in the water. When Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone go into a city, when many of the people start seeing him walking down the streets, all the people get very scared and start screaming and running for their lives, and a police officer talks into a walkie-talkie to get him the chief. Cleo and T-Bone notice all the people are acting really strange and Cleo wonders what's up with them, and T-Bone thinks it's them that's up with them. Cleo then thinks they might be scared, and they were, of Clifford. Clifford soon realizes all the people really were scared of him as they screamed and ran away. So Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone quickly hide in the alley between two buildings. Cleo then tells Clifford and T-Bone that she has a plan, so leans against the wall and tells Clifford and T-Bone to stay close and follow her. When the dogs come out of the lane, more people start getting scared and running from Clifford and the three dogs quickly run the other way. They soon make it out of the city all out of breath, and Cleo thinks her plan worked well. Back on Birdwell Island, Emily was riding her bicycle and catches up to Charley. Emily asks Charley if he had any luck, but he didn't, and Emily didn't either. Emily tells Charley she also talked to Mrs. Diller and Sheriff Lewis who told her that Cleo and T-Bone were also missing. When Charley states it's like they're not on the island anymore, Emily suddenly notices something and thinks Charley is right. They suddenly see Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone's footprints in the sand at the beach and follow them, noticing that they really did leave the island. Charley wonders why would the dogs leave the island, and Emily wishes she knew as she and Charley sadly look at Clifford's footprints leading into the ocean.

Back on the main land, Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone pass by a water tower. T-Bone gets thirsty and Clifford raises Cleo and T-Bone to the top of the water tower. Clifford then removes the top of the tower and they drink some of the water. Cleo feels like taking a cat nap, but Clifford knows they can't rest by the water tower, since he has to stay out of sight. T-Bone then notices a carnival shutting down and thinks they should stop there. Clifford and Cleo then notice the carnival and finally find where the Amazing Animals are. So Clifford closes the top of the water tower and the dogs head off to the carnival.

At the carnival, Shackledford, Dirk, Rodrigo and Dorothy try to close a chest, but it was too full. But then, Clifford arrives and presses the chest closed with his paw. The animals get excited to see Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone have returned, and Shackleford realizes that Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone have decided to join their show after all, which makes him excited. Suddenly, Shackledford notices that Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone have tags, and knows that Larry won't take them in if they already have families. Cleo then takes her tag, and Clifford and T-Bone's off their collars and throws them into the chest and she lies to the animals saying they just use them to fool the dog catcher. Shackleford falls for it and starts thinking they're strays and goes to get Larry. Rodrigo excitedly runs around the three dogs and Dorothy gets excited to see Cleo since she's a girl like her. Shackleford then brings out Larry to show him Clifford. When Larry sees him, he gets amazed to see how big he is and suggests they really could use him in their show. Larry then welcomes Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone to the family and he names them, "Big Red", "Puffy" and "Little Guy". After the carnival shuts down, Larry reads Clifford, Cleo, T-Bone and the Amazing Animals a bedtime story. After Larry finishes the story, he tucks his animals in for bed and goes back into his bus. Cleo asks Clifford and T-Bone isn't show business great, and they state that it is, but Clifford is still a little home sick. Back on Birdwell Island, Emily Elizabeth goes into Clifford's doghouse sadly looking around inside wondering where Clifford is and looks at all of her drawings of Clifford. As she sits down on Clifford's bed, she suddenly notices something underneath it. She pulls it out and finds the add and finds out about the Tummy Yummies Pet Talent Contest, so she quickly runs back into her house to show her parents.

The next day, Larry drives Clifford, Cleo, T-Bone and his Amazing Animals on his bus to the carnival's next destination. When there, they start preparing for the next show of Larry's Amazing Animals, and Clifford helps out. When the stage was ready for the next show, Larry gets ready to sell tickets so people could see the next show, and tells his animals they're gonna pack them in tonight. Later that night, people start coming to see the next show of Larry's Amazing Animals. While the show was going on, Shackleford tells Clifford that he, Cleo and T-Bone don't come on till the end. When Larry presents the star of the show, Shackledford goes on telling Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone to watch and learn. When Shackleford climbs the ladder, Larry presents him to audience and again grabs onto a trapeze and swings on each one above the audience and again lands on Dorothy's head. When Larry again tosses Shackleford the red bowling pins and he starts juggling them again, a butterfly lands on Dorothy's nose. This makes Dorothy sneeze, sneezing the butterfly off and it causes her again look down seeing how far the ground is and get terrified. This makes her again start wobbling on the tight rope, and making Shackleford again drop the bowling pins. One of the trapezes Shackleford was swinging on then swings back to him and Shackleford grabs onto it, and then Shackleford and Dorothy both swing back over the audience on the trapezes. Dorothy then grabs onto a spotlight that Dirk and Rodrigo were using and pulls them down, causing a string to pull up the Larry's Amazing Animals sign and part of the fence. Larry then grabs onto Dirk's roller skates, accidentally starting them up and Shackleford, Dirk, Rodrigo and Dorothy get rocketed straight high up into the air. Clifford though then comes to the rescue when Shackleford, Dirk, Rodrigo and Dorothy start to fall back down. Shackleford grabs onto a rope, then when Dorothy grabbed onto his tail, it causes the rope slingshot Shackleford onto a high platform getting stabbed by something sharp. Clifford then catches Rodrigo with his paw and Dorothy slides down Clifford's back. Dirk then rockets up into the sky and makes an explosion and he parachutes down and lands on Clifford's nose. Larry then presents, "Ladies and Gentlemen, it's Big Red to the rescue!", and the audience cheers for Clifford for saving the animals.

Back inside the tent, the animals thank Clifford for saving their lives and Dorothy gives Clifford a kiss. Clifford then thanks the animals and explains he was just helping them. Shackleford then comes into the tent and tells Clifford that that was one lucky break, since they were on a tail wag away from disaster. But Shackleford then tells the animals that they mustn't let it happen again, since they can't depend on an accident to save the show. He tells Dorothy that she must not look down, Dirk that he mist ease up on the throttle, Rodrigo that he must lift his bell bars more up then down. When he tells Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone that they also did okay, which they all did, he states that okay still isn't good enough, since okay doesn't win contests. When Larry comes into the tent, and clams the show they did to be fantastic and truly amazing, and that was their best show ever. Larry tells Clifford that he'd stole the show, and if his animals keep up what they did on the show, they'll be sure enter the Tummy Yummies Pet Talent Contest, and he bets they could win it thanks to Clifford. Larry then thanks Shackleford for letting Clifford join their show. After Larry leaves the tent, Clifford asks Shackleford do they get the Tummy Yummies soon. Back on Birdwell Island, Mr. Bleakman was talking on the phone to report about Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone missing. When he tells someone on the phone that Clifford is friendly, red and is as big as a house, the person he's talking to says he's crazy, which makes Mr. Bleakman yell at that person saying he's not, and he hangs the phone up. Mr. Bleakman then tells Emily Elizabeth to not worry and they'll find him, and Emily thanks him for telling her that.

The next day, Clifford wakes up and finds Dorothy trying to walk on her own tight rope. When Clifford says hi to her, he surprises her and makes her fall off onto the stage platform. Clifford apologizes for surprising her, but Dorothy tells him it's okay, since it's not the first time she's been tipped. Dorothy decides to tell Clifford a secret of hers, and he tells him that she has a little problem with heights. She tells him that she gets scared when she's up on the tight rope which messes up the show, and she was now fearing she'll ruin the Amazing Animals' chance to win the contest. Clifford then has an idea and tells Dorothy that back at home (Birdwell Island), when a "friend of his" (Emily Elizabeth) felt bad, he gives her a ride, which always helps her feel better. Dorothy then asks Clifford if she could try, and Clifford agrees. So Dorothy climbs onto Clifford's back and Clifford gives her a ride. When Clifford gives Dorothy a ride out of the carnival and all around, Dorothy sees it to be great, which makes Clifford happy for her as he knew it would make her feel better. Best of all, Dorothy was really high up, and she wasn't scared, and she was able to now face her fear of heights. Back at the carnival, Clifford helps Dorothy walk across the tight rope as Cleo, T-Bone, Dirk and Rodrigo watch. When Larry and Shackleford arrive, they notice Clifford helping Dorothy making now no longer afraid of heights. Larry gets proud of Clifford as he now didn't just save the show, but helped Dorothy as well, and he tells him he really is amazing, but Shackleford gets disappointed.

Soon, Larry, Clifford, Cleo, T-Bone and the Amazing Animals started traveling all around the United States of America and Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone do amazing stunts with the animals and people finally start loving the show, and Clifford becomes that star of the show, causing Shackleford to get jealous.

After making a lot of shows of Larry's Amazing Animals successful, one day during sunset, Larry finishes painting a new sign for his show. Larry then calls his animals to come see the sign. When Clifford, Cleo, T-Bone and the Amazing Animals come take a look at the sign, Larry pulls a trap off the sign and the animals look at it. All the animals except Shackleford were amazed to see it. Shackleford gets upset when he sees the sign because Clifford is now in the middle of it and he isn't anymore. Larry then thanks his animals since the show now became better then he'd ever imagined. When Larry tells Shackleford that Clifford the big dog makes a big difference, Shackleford gets angry and angrily walks away. Just then, a car arrives and a man comes out. The man tells Larry that he's a representative of George Wolfsbottom, the CEO of the Tummy Yummies Corporation, and he then tells Larry he and his Amazing Animals have been chosen to compete in the Tummy Yummies Pet Talent Contest. This makes everyone excited, and man tell Larry the contest is tomorrow night at San Lalarge. After the man leaves, Larry tells his animals they're finally gonna make it, and Larry then goes to call P.T.. Clifford then decides to tell Shackleford the big news since he missed hearing them. Clifford finds Shackleford in the tent and he tells him that he just missed the big news. Clifford tells Shackledford that the man from the Tummy Yummies Corporation told Larry that they're preforming in the contest tomorrow night. Shackleford however didn't seem to be happy, and he asks Clifford that is it all about him and his Tummy Yummies. Shackleford then gets angry and snaps at him for idolizing the Tummy Yummies so much which gets Clifford shocked. Dorothy hears him scolding Clifford and spies on Shackleford being angry at him. Clifford sadly tries to apologizes to Shackleford, but Shackleford says to Clifford that he's the one who's sorry and angrily tells him he should never asked him to join their show in the first place and they were all better off without him. Clifford gasps and this gets him mad and hurt and he walks away. Dorothy also saw it and she also gets mad at Shackleford for being too harsh on Clifford.

When Clifford walks up to a cliff and he's very upset, he hears what seems to be Emily Elizabeth calling him, but it turns out to really be Cleo calling him. Clifford looks back and sees Cleo and T-Bone run up to him. T-Bone asks Clifford where was he and tells him he just missed a great rehearsal. Cleo and T-Bone show Clifford their new trick, but Clifford wasn't satisfied. Clifford tells Cleo and T-Bone he's going back home to Birdwell Island right now, making them shocked. Cleo asks Clifford why he would want to go home now, without competing in the contest to win the life time supply of Tummy Yummies to help Emily Elizabeth, and T-Bone adds that Larry and the animals need him. Clifford tells them that Shackleford just told him they were better off without him. Cleo tries to convince Clifford it's not true and he's the best thing that's ever happened to them, but Clifford thinks it doesn't matter anymore. Clifford asks Cleo and T-Bone to come with him, and they decide to. So Clifford lowers his head down and Cleo and T-Bone climb on board and the dogs started to head back to Birdwell Island as Cleo and T-Bone say good bye to Larry and the animals.

The next morning, the animals wake up as Larry was calling Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone trying to get them to come, but they weren't anywhere to be seen. Larry tells his animals he couldn't find them and the animals get surprised. When Dirk and Rodrigo wonder where Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone went, Dorothy then asks Shackleford if he knows why they left. Shackleford tells Dirk, Rodrigo and Dorothy that they've got to go with what they got, which is something the animals never heard him say before. Shackleford them disgustedly tells them they were fine before Clifford, but Rodrigo tells Shackleford that fine doesn't win contests. Larry then tells his animals bad news thinking that Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone are gone, and hopes they're alright, but he still suggests the show must go on. He still plans for he and his animals to go to San Lalarge and they'll then find after the show. Meanwhile, Clifford was walking down through the road in the desert road with Cleo and T-Bone riding on his head, heading back to Birdwell Island. Cleo thinks it'll be great to be back home, but T-Bone adds it's too bad they're not coming back with the Tummy Yummies. Clifford though suggests they're going back to where they're appreciated. T-Bone knows that Larry and the animals sure were nice to them, and now they'll never win the contest since they won't be with them. Clifford thinks they still will, but Cleo and T-Bone tell Clifford that they'll never win without him and don't stand a chance without him. This causes Clifford to look back and change his mind and the dogs decide to reunite with Larry and the animals by helping them.

That night, Larry's bus was driving down a road on the side of a mountain when Larry and his animals spot the city of San Lalarge, where the Tummy Yummies Contest was taking place. Larry and the animals get excited, but then suddenly the bus breaks down. Larry pulls the clutch back and goes to check the bus' engine. Larry checks the engine and some smoke goes into his face. Larry closes the bus' hood and looks at San Lalarge. Just then, the clutch pulls itself back up the other way and the bus started rolling backwards down the other way. When Larry looks back and sees the bus rolling backwards down the mountain, he gets shocked and quickly runs after it. The animals have a wild ride as the bus rolls backwards down the road and Larry jumps into the bus' cab as catches up to it. Just as the bus was about to roll off a high curve on the road, Larry and the animals feel the bus suddenly stop and they notice it moving forwards back up the mountain road again. Larry looks back and sees Clifford pushing the bus back up the mountain with Cleo and T-Bone on his back. "Big Red to the rescue!", Larry cheers and all the animals except Shackleford cheer for him. Clifford then pushes the bus all the way to the top of the mountain road and it rolls down towards San Lalarge. Clifford then jumps back onto the wheeled seat the bus was pulling as they head to San Lalarge. Dorothy welcomes Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone for coming back and thanks them for returning, since it really means a lot to the animals, but Shackleford is mad that Clifford has came back. Dorothy tells Clifford that she knows Shackleford was pretty harsh to him yesterday, and she thinks he was probably just feeling replaced by him. Clifford explains all he just wanted to do was help, ad Dorothy tells him that Shackleford is just not the most secure ferret in the world, but he means well. The bus then heads off to San Lalarge.

In San Lalarge, Larry, Clifford, Cleo, T-Bone and the Amazing Animals go through the beautiful city on the bus. They then arrive at the Wolfsbottom Sweet where the contest is taking place. On stage, an announcer announces to the audience that before they present the final act, she'd like to introduce the man who made the show possible. As George Wolfsbottom was preparing to go on stage, her daughter Madison disgustedly walks to him. When she calls him, George asks Madison if she made up her mind, but she disgustedly tells her father that, "they're all lying!". The announcer then announces George's name and he tells Madison he'll be right back, and George goes on stage. Madison then reminds her father that he promised her something, when she hears a bark from behind a curtain. When Madison looks behind the curtain, she sees Clifford and gets excited and starts wanting him for herself.

One of the announcers then presents the audience Larry's Amazing Animals and it was time for them to preform on the stage. First, Rodrigo goes on stage and goes onto a platform where his bell bars are on, and the platform lifts high up into the air. Cleo then goes onto a teeter totter and Rodrigo lifts up the bell bars, and manages to do it. Rodrigo then jumps off the platform and lands on the teeter totter launching Cleo into the air, and the other end of it also flips up making Rodrigo fly up into air too. Cleo and Rodrigo then fly by Dorothy on a tight rope and Cleo lands on Dorothy's head, and so does Rodrigo. After Cleo and Rodrigo land on Dorothy's head, three rings come down from the ceiling and Dirk wearing a jet pack activates his helmets eye target. He then turns on his jet pack and flies down the rap and flies through all three rings and over the audience, and then he flies right by Cleo, Rodrigo and Dorothy, making the fall off the tight rope, and Dirk starts to parachute down. As Cleo, Rodrigo and Dorothy start falling, and Dirk parachutes down, Clifford comes out from the curtains and catches them on his tail, and then flips them onto his back. As Clifford runs around on the stage with Cleo, Dirk, Rodrigo and Dorothy on his back, Shackleford was on another high platform and so is T-Bone, about to swing on trapezes. Shackleford and T-Bone then swing on two trapezes and jump from one trapeze to the other. Shackleford and T-Bone then crash into each other and start to fall, but they then land on Clifford's tail. Clifford then juggles Cleo, T-Bone and the Amazing Animals with his feet and then balances them stacked on top of each other on his nose. Then he makes them slide down his back and they land on the stage as a final act. At the Howards' house, the announcer states on television that, "that dog is incredible, he's humongous", which gets Emily Elizabeth excited from what she hears the announcer say on TV. She then sees Clifford on TV and gets very excited to see her dog on TV, and she calls Mrs. Diller and Sheriff Lewis. Mrs. Diller and Sheriff Lewis have also seen Cleo and T-Bone in TV at the contest as they talk to Emily on the phone telling her that they've also watched the contest.

After the audience cheer, a gray dog gives one of the announcers an envelope and she announces who the winner of the Tummy Yummies Pet Talent Contest. When the announcer says, "And the winner of the Tummy Yummies Talent Contest is...", a drum rolls, and everyone gets nervous wondering who the winner is. Finally the announcer shouts out, "Larry's Amazing Animals!" and the crowd cheers as Larry and this animals have won the contest, much to Larry and the animals' excitement. As the audience cheer for Larry and his animals, Madison whispers something into George's ear. So George takes out a contract and Madison grins evilly. While photographers were taking pictures of Larry and this animals and people from the audience were getting Larry's autograph, Larry signs his name on George's contract without noticing it. George then snaps his fingers and two security guards come to capture Clifford. George then thanks Larry for signing his contract. Larry however wasn't satisfied since he didn't read it first before signing it. When George asks Larry doesn't he want fame, fortune and a life time supply of Tummy Yummies, the two guards use a box of Tummy Yummies to lower Clifford away to dog nap him. When Larry says he does want the prize the winner gets since he and his animals won the contest, George gives Larry a golden key and tells him for he and his animals to enjoy the best the Wolfsbottom Sweet has to offer. After George runs off, Larry notices Clifford is gone. He then quickly runs of the hotel, just as a big van Clifford inside it drives off, as George captures him for Madison. All the animals except Shackleford get very worried about Clifford, but Larry tells them it isn't over, contract or no contract, he'll get Clifford back no matter what.

At the Wolfsbottom Mansion, Madison thanks her father for capturing Clifford for her, as she wanted him to go with her collection. George sees Clifford as "the biggest dang dog he'd ever seen", and Madison calls him "Clancy". When George picks up the phone, he leaves his daughter with Clifford, and Madison shows him her collection of giant things, which are the "World's Biggest Carousel", and the "World's Biggest Doll House", and she now adds him to it as the "World's Biggest Dog". Madison then abuses him by grabbing onto Clifford's ear and climbs up onto him to ride him. Madison gets on his back and kicks him like a horseback rider and makes Clifford gives Madison a ride inside the mansion.

Back at the Wolfsbottom Sweet, Larry let's his animals stay in a hotel room and goes to call George in determine to get Clifford back. Cleo, T-Bone and the Amazing Animals were sad, except of course for Shackleford. Shackleford starts enjoying the hotel room's radio, water bed and food from the refrigerator. The other animals however weren't happy because of Clifford getting captured. Shackleford then snaps and yells at the other animals trying to convince them that Clifford just wanted the Tummy Yummies, but then Cleo gets very angry at Shackleford and she loudly explains to him back telling him that he really did it for Emily Elizabeth. Cleo tells Shackleford that Emily Elizabeth is Clifford's owner back on Birdwell Island and she puts she and T-Bone's tags back on their collars and takes Clifford's tag out of the chest as well. Shackleford gets shocked realizing that Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone lied to him about them being strays and they only used their tags to fool the dog catcher. Cleo tells him they lied to him because he told them Larry won't take them in if they had owners and Clifford really needed to win the Tummy Yummies to help Emily Elizabeth and the Howards, and they had no other choose. Shackleford then feels guilty after finding out the truth and realizing Clifford really just wanted to help out his family. Cleo though tells Shackleford that it really wasn't his fault, he just didn't know. Now that Shackleford does, he decides to let he and the other animals to go rescue Clifford. In another room, Larry was on the phone talking to George angrily telling him he wants Clifford back, but George refuses to, telling Larry that he loves his new life luxury, and he's on Wolfsbottom now, and he hangs up on him. After George hangs the phone up on Larry, Shackleford comes in and shows Larry the tags in Cleo and T-Bone's collars. Larry then finds out that they have owners, and Shackleford then shows Larry Clifford's tag. This makes Larry realize they really must rescue Clifford, so Larry calls Emily Elizabeth back on Birdwell Island.

Later that night, Larry, Cleo, T-Bone and the Amazing Animals arrive at the Wolfsbottom Mansion on the bus. Larry tells a guard he's here to see George. He tells the guard it's about the lawn and he could make it greener, but the guard the asks Larry to leave. When Plan A doesn't work, Shackleford states it's time to do Plan Double A: Amazing Animals. So Shackleford asks the animals if they got everything they need. Cleo takes out a rope, Dorothy takes out a unicycle and Dirk takes out a clothes hanger. Shackleford plans a plan for them to rescue Clifford, and put their rescue plan into action. When George's security guards weren't looking, Dirk uses his jet pack and flies towards the roof of the mansion and uses the clothes hanger to spin himself around a satellite dish and attach the rope from the front wall to the mansion roof. Then using the unicycle, Cleo, T-Bone and the Amazing Animals ride across the rope to the mansion roof. When on the roof, they then slide down another rope and land nearby a window. They then go through the window and get inside the mansion. When quietly going through a hallway, they notice red alarm beams. Shackleford, Cleo, Rodrigo, Dirk and Dorothy do special jumping dances to avoid touching them, while T-Bone moves like a snail underneath them. They finally find Clifford behind big metal gates, but they were locked. T-Bone then notices an air vent, and the animals stack on top of each other to reach it. Shackleford then uses a rope and Rodrigo lowers him down towards Clifford. When Clifford sees Shackledford's shadow on the wall, he looks back and gets excited to see him. Shackleford tells Clifford he and the others came to free him and get him out of the mansion and Shackleford apologizes to Clifford for being harsh at him. After Clifford forgives Shackleford by licking him, Shackleford presses a button on the wall and opens the metal gates in front of Clifford and the one in front of Cleo, T-Bone and the Amazing Animals. Cleo, T-Bone and the Amazing Animals all get happy to see Clifford again, but as they were about to escape the mansion, T-Bone accidentally touches on the red alarm beams.

As soon as he touches on them, the alarm goes off and lots of George's security guards start showing up to capture the animals to stop them from rescuing Clifford, so Clifford, Cleo, T-Bone and the Amazing Animals quickly make a run for it as the guards start to give chase. Cleo, T-Bone and Shackleford climb onto Clifford's head, and Clifford with them riding on his head runs into an indoor amusement park owned by Madison. One of the guards then flips a switch and turns on all the lights in the amusement park and Dorothy jumps onto a train while Rodrigo jumps onto a carousal that one of the guards activates when jumping onto a switch trying to grab him. When Shackleford pushes down a switch which opens a castle's door making one of guards see Clifford, Clifford jumps over the castle and into a ferris wheel, causing Shackleford to fly off Clifford's head and land into a bumper cars ride. Rodrigo quickly jumps off the carousel and jumps on the train as Dorothy drives it, while Clifford with Cleo and T-Bone on his head runs while rolling in the ferris wheel, and Shackleford drives one of the bumper cars to escape, while three guards use three other bumper cars to drive after him. One of the guards flips down one of the gate switches and one of the gates close, and Clifford jumps off the ferris wheel making it roll into the closing gates crushing it. Clifford with Cleo and T-Bone on his head then runs down another hallway as the guards driving the bumper cars drive after them. As Dirk, Rodrigo and Dorothy escape the mansion through a window, Clifford with Cleo and T-Bone on his head run down a staircase as more guards appear about to surround them, but he them jumps onto and slides down the side of the stairs and jumps over the guards at the bottom of them. Another guards flips another gate switch to close another gate to try to block them, but Shackleford then swings on a chandelier and slides down the wall, pushing the switch back down, opening the gates again and Clifford with Cleo and T-Bone on his head runs through them, and Shackleford jumps and grabs onto his tail as they make their escape. When Clifford, Cleo, T-Bone and Shackleford make it out of the mansion's front doors, a big group of guards with lasso ropes are in front of them. But before they could capture them, Dirk, Rodrigo and Dorothy swing down on a rope right into them, knocking all the guards out of the way. Larry them drives his bus through the gates and right up to animals. Clifford, Cleo, T-Bone and the Amazing Animals then quickly board the bus, and the Larry drives them off as the three guards in the bumper cars stop right outside the mansion's front doors (and one of them flies and lands into the fountain in front of the mansion). But just before Larry, Clifford, Cleo, T-Bone and the Amazing Animals could escape, George's limo blocks the front gates and Larry freaks out and stops the bus.

George Wolfsbottom then angrily walks to Larry, making Clifford get scared and hide, and he angrily asks him, "What are you doing with my dog!?". But then, a voice angrily says to him, "That's my dog!". George looks back and sees Emily Elizabeth, making Clifford happy to see his owner. Emily introduces herself to him an tells him that Clifford belongs to her. Clifford then barks and Emily gets very happy to see her dog again and reunites with him, giving a big hug. Larry is delighted to meet Emily, but George tells Larry that a deal is still a deal. However, Madison tells her father to let Emily keep him, since he belonged her first, it's only fair. So George decides to agree with his daughter and he tears apart his contract and tells Larry that he and his animals won the Tummy Yummies Pet Talent Contest fair and square, much to the animals and Emily's delight. Emily then thanks Larry for calling and explaining everything to her, and she also thanks him for taking good care of Clifford. Larry then tells Emily he sure loved Clifford and he and his animals will sure miss him, and Larry thanks Clifford since we couldn't the contest without him, he gets to keep his family. Dirk, Rodrigo and Dorothy then say good bye to Cleo and T-Bone since they'll miss them, and Cleo and T-Bone will miss them too. Shackleford then thanks Clifford for being such a good pal, and Clifford thanks Shackleford and the other animals for rescuing him, and Clifford and Shackleford will now always be friends. After they high five each other and Clifford licks him, Shackleford tells Clifford they'll be back next year, and Larry then calls out to Shackleford that they've got to head out. So Shackleford boards the bus, and Larry and his Amazing Animals leave as Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone say good bye to them. After the Amazing Animals say good bye to them and the bus leaves, Emily Elizabeth again hugs Clifford telling him he's the best.

Back on Birdwell Island, Clifford with Emily again riding on his back runs around the island and everyone is happy to see Clifford is back. Back at the Howards' house, Mr. Bleakman just finishes cleaning his car, when he hears Clifford barking. As Clifford runs by and Emily says hi him, Clifford accidentally steps in a mud puddle and gets both Mr. Bleakman and his car all muddy. Mr. Bleakman shouts out Clifford's name, but then he smiles and happily tells Clifford it's good to have him back. Emily then says bye to Mr. Bleakman and Clifford continues to run around Birdwell Island with Emily riding on his back giving her a ride.

Cast[]

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

Quotes[]

• This is not personal decision, Larry. It's a business decision. You know why I'm here so I'm gotta cut to the chase. Your show is failing.
• Larry: All I'm asking is a little more time.
• P.T.: Larry, we've had this
• Larry: If you take back the tent and this bus, where will my animals live.
• P.T.: Larry, We've had this confu a hundred times.
• Mr. Bleakman: (on the telephone) I'd like to report three missing dogs. One is red, extremely friendly, and as big as a house. No, I'm not crazy!
• Clifford: What now?
• Cleo: We need a plan. T-Bone: Okay Who has a plan? Cleo: Hello? I do, of course! Clifford: Are you sure? Cleo: Have I ever steered you wrong? Clifford and T-Bone: Well... Cleo: Don't answer that.

• (Cleo and T-Bone climb on Clifford's head.) Cleo: I got right! T-Bone: That's my spot! Cleo: You were there last time. T-Bone: Was not! Cleo: Was too! T-Bone: Was not! Cleo: Was too! T-Bone: Was not! Cleo: Okay Okay, we'll take turns. My turn first!

• Clifford: I'm a problem. Mr. Bleakman said so. I eat too much and They can't afford to keep me.
• T-Bone: Maybe you just misunderstood him. I misunderstanding things.
• Cleo: You don't say...

Trivia+ Wordiness![]

• This movie was released just five days after Clifford's official "birthday."
• It is currently the only theatrical film directly based on a PBS Kids TV series, not counting Barney's Great Adventure or the films based on Sesame Street (the programming block did not exist at the time said films were made).
• This marks John Ritter's final movie appearance in any form. His last on-screen movie appearance was in 2003's Bad Santa. The true last film with him was Stanley's Dinosaur Round-Up, another movie based on a TV show (that being Playhouse Disney's Stanley), released one year after this movie.
  • In addition, this film, along with Bad Santa and Stanley's Dinosaur Round-Up, was posthumously released after Ritter's death and dedicated to his memory.
• With this being the series finale, this obviously is also the last time Earl Boen voiced Mr. Bleakman prior to his death in 2023.
• Rather than being released by Artisan Entertainment, who released the series on home media in North America, Warner Bros. Pictures acquired the film's distribution rights.
• The cast was limited to a few regular characters and assortment of guest characters.
• Mac, Samuel, Vaz, Mary, Mimi, Violet, Miss Carrington, Miss Lee, Dr. Dihn, Miss Carrington, Mr. Carson, and Fire Chief Campbell are not in this movie.
• Charley was voiced by Oren Williams in this movie, due to Gary LeRoi Gray’s voice maturing after the TV series ended.
• Unlike in the books and shows, Clifford’s co-stars have regular eyes instead of black dots.
• Larry says that Dorothy is “udder-ly amazing”, even though literally no udders are on her whatsoever.
• The movie is ony available on Amazon Prime Video USA, alongside the 2019 Reboot, which means, any account outside USA cannot watch the movie nor the series.
• Bonus Segments is Speckle and the Heat Busters & Speckle and the Indoor Picnic.

Goofs[]

• Sheriff Lewis can’t arrest George Wolfsbottom, he says sorry that he tricked Larry and his amazing animals.

Gallery[]