Scholastic Entertainment will be back on TV with a reboot of Clifford The Big Red Dog. Based on the best-selling Scholastic book by Norman Bridwell, the re-imagined animated series will feature the larger-than-life dog and his best friend Emily Elizabeth. The huge canine character will return on Amazon Prime Video and PBS Kids in 2019.
Still set in Birdwell Island, Clifford The Big Red Dog will offer fresh and colourful new locations. The show will also have a strong emphasis on social-emotional skills such as empathy, along with a solid curriculum designed to boost early literacy and encourage imaginative play.
The classic Clifford The Big Red Dog series has aired in 110 countries around the globe, and also inspired a spin-off, the Emmy-winning Clifford’s Puppy Days. Scholastic published the first Clifford title in 1963, and till date there have been more than 133 million Clifford books in print in 16 different languages. A vintage hardcover edition of the original Clifford storybook was reissued in fall 2016 and it also has its very own classroom magazine, distributed by Scholastic in the U.S.
In a statement, the show’s executive producer Iole Lucchese said: “There is something enduring in Clifford’s gentle, loyal spirit that touches fans even after they become adults.We see it in tributes on social media and in fan art, and of course, in every parent who grew up with Clifford and now share their love of him with their pre-schoolers.”
Produced by Scholastic Entertainment, the first Clifford The Big Red Dog series premiered on PBS KIDS in 2000. The show garnered numerous industry excellence awards, including nine Daytime Emmy nominations, two CINE Golden Eagle Awards and a New York Film Festival Award. For the new series 100 Chickens,9 Story and Brown Bag Films are brought on board to bring the animated show to life.
Currently scheduled to go on for 39 episodes, the new show will also feature original songs, new and old characters. Sadly, one person who will be unable to return to the show is John Ritter, the original voice of Clifford who passed away in 2003. He was posthumously nominated for an Emmy in 2004 for his performance.
To accompany the launch of the new show, Scholastic Entertainment is also developing a global publishing, broadcast, merchandise and licensing program to help further extend the positive messages of the brand to children and families around the globe.