Grade:

Transfiguring Adoption awarded this movie 3 Hoots out of 5 based on how useful it will be for a foster/adoptive family. [Learn more about our Hoot grading system here]

Movie Info:

• Rating: PG (Thematic Elements, Mild Action, Impolite Humor)
• Genre: Kid and Family, Comedy
• Runtime: 97 Minutes
• Studio: Paramount Pictures

From the Cover of Clifford the Big Red Dog by Paramount Pictures:

“When middle-schooler Emily Elizabeth (Darby Camp) meets a magical animal rescuer (John Cleese) who gifts her a little, red puppy, she never anticipated waking up to find a giant ten-foot hound in her small New York City apartment. While her single mom (Sienna Guillory) is away for business, Emily and her fun but impulsive Uncle Casey (Jack Whitehall) set out on an adventure that will keep you on the edge-of-your-seat as our heroes take a bite out of the Big Apple. Based on the beloved Scholastic book character, Clifford will teach the world how to love big!”

[Purchase the PDF version of the Review and Discussion Guide]

Transfiguring Adoption’s Overview:

Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021) is a new family live-action movie based on the children’s books by Norman Bridwell. The movie is cute and fairly predictable though still enjoyable. It also had some surprisingly heavy moments that I was not expecting going into the movie. This includes some scenes of separation from loved ones that might be especially important to be aware of with kiddos who have experienced trauma. Overall, the target age-range is probably more upper-elementary or middle schoolers (the main character is aged up to be in middle school) and definitely aimed at an older audience than the picture-books and cartoon series which are marketed to the preschool crowd.

** Spoilers Could Be Ahead **

How Is This Relevant To Adoption & Foster Care?

The movie does not directly relate to foster care or adoption, although Clifford the puppy is adopted by Emily Elizabeth and becomes a part of her family. While he is an animal, he is very much anthropomorphized as a character and children will likely relate to his story of being abandoned and alone and then taken in by Emily Elizabeth. Emily lives with her biological mother (and there is no mention of her father), though during the course of the movie she is being cared for by her uncle while her mom is away working. There are also themes about bullying and stigma that children who have experienced trauma are likely to relate to.

Discussion Points:

• The Importance of Community
  Though Emily Elizabeth does live with her biological mother, we also see her add to her found family throughout the movie as she forms close relationships with her uncle Casey, Clifford, and her new friend Owen, as well as many of her neighbors who band together to help save the day. When children have been separated from their birth family, obviously there is a loss of their familial relationships. But oftentimes there is also a loss of other community connections; they might be changing schools, neighborhoods, and in some cases even moving to a new city, state or country. So, in addition to separation from their birth family they are also potentially being separated from friends, teachers, neighbors, and other community members. This can be a great opportunity to talk as a family about the importance of these community connections and how to help your children build relationships both within the family but also outside of it.
• Healthy vs. Unhealthy Goodbyes
  Early in the movie we see Clifford get left behind after Animal Control takes his mother and siblings. He is left to wander alone until Bridwell finds him and takes him in and he’s eventually adopted by Emily Elizabeth. Later, Emily Elizabeth is forced to send Clifford away to an animal reservation as it is no longer safe for him to live with her. Emily Elizabeth loves Clifford and believes she is doing what’s best for him but it’s still a very painful separation for both of them. This can be an opportunity to talk about what healthy goodbyes look like vs. unhealthy ones and ways you can help prepare your child for goodbyes they will inevitably have to say in the future, whether that’s because they’re going to a new placement, returning to biological family, or even if they are in their permanent home, they will one day have to say goodbye to friends or loved ones in some capacity. Because they’ve experienced relationship loss that was likely traumatic this can be a hard but important topic to talk about so they are prepared.
• Stigma and Misunderstanding
  At the end of the movie Emily says, “Different doesn’t mean dangerous” when talking to her community members. Clifford is incredibly misunderstood and the community has come to believe he is dangerous because of his size, fueled by rumors from Lifegro that are then perpetuated by the police officers trying to hunt him down. Those who know Clifford personally know he would never hurt anyone intentionally. Children who have experienced trauma may relate heavily to these feelings, often children who are in foster care or who have lived through trauma are stigmatized and portrayed as being troublemakers or even dangerous, when often that just isn’t the case. This can be especially true with older children and teenagers. Use this as an opportunity to talk with children about the stigma and misconceptions that Clifford experiences, as well as their own experiences with being judged if they feel up to it.

Cautionary Points:

• Clifford Gets Left Behind
  At the very beginning of the movie, we see a mother dog and her puppies living in an abandoned warehouse. Animal Control comes and takes the mom and puppies (presumably to a shelter to get adopted). But Clifford is overlooked and left behind by himself. While Clifford is a dog, not a person, this scene may still be very triggering to children who were removed from their birth families or experienced family separation of any kind.

• Bullying and Cyberbullying
  Emily Elizabeth is teased and bullied by her peers at school, mostly for the fact that her family doesn’t have a lot of money. Most notably they call her ‘Food Stamp’. There’s also a scene where we see a video playing on her computer showing where her classmates have recorded her falling down at school and posted it online with mean comments.
• Poverty/Homelessness
  It’s clear that Emily Elizabeth’s family doesn’t have a lot of money. In addition to classmates teasing, they mention several times about living in a rent-controlled apartment. Her uncle Casey also states that he is ‘between apartments’ and we see him living in his van. After the landlord finds out about Clifford, Emily and Casey come home to a locked apartment with an eviction notice on the door. These references may be upsetting to children who have lived in poverty or been homeless in the past.
• Somewhat Questionable Caregiver
  When Emily Elizabeth’s mom goes out of town for work her Uncle Casey is left to babysit. He clearly loves her and means well but he’s very immature and chaotic. He makes several jokes about previous times he babysat and ‘lost’ her. He also doesn’t seem to keep a particularly close eye on Emily Elizabeth and she ends up off on her own doing such things as illegally driving a truck. While Uncle Casey doesn’t do anything malicious and Emily Elizabeth doesn’t come to any real harm, the fact that Emily’s mother leaves her in his care when she specifically asks her not to and has had poor experiences previously doesn’t sit well.

• A Fair Amount of Bathroom Humor
  There are a number of jokes about Clifford’s bathroom habits (which, like him, are supersized). Also mentions of taking temperature in his ‘butthole’, and dogs
  needing to ‘sniff each other’s’ butt cheeks’.

• Mild Peril
  There are some scenes of mild peril, including Clifford chasing a person using an inflatable Zorb ball (though no harm comes to them). There is also a car chase scene which includes Emily
  Elizabeth illegally driving the moving truck. A man also falls off a roof and is hanging precariously for a few moments before Clifford saves him.

• Presumed Character Death/Hospital Scene
  Emily Elizabeth and Uncle Casey are looking for Mr. Bridwell and their search takes them to the hospital. Emily notices his bowtie and is told that the owner of those clothes has passed away. We later learn that it was someone else who died, not Mr. Bridwell but the scene may still be triggering for children who have lost a loved one recently or had a situation where they were not able to say goodbye to someone.

• Extremely Sad Goodbye Scene
  With Lifegro after them, Emily Elizabeth is forced to accept that it’s not safe for Clifford to stay with her any longer. She makes the very difficult decision to send Clifford to live on an animal reservation where he will be protected. It’s a very emotional scene watching her say goodbye to him, expecting that she may not see him again. This is likely a mirror to what some children experience coming into care. Their birth family may have recognized that they could not provide the environment necessary for the children and they were placed in foster care or adoption to give them their best chance at a safe and healthy future. This scene may bring up some of those big and difficult-to-process feelings.

Discussion Guide:

1. Bridwell specializes in animals that are unique or different and many have magical powers. If you could have a pet with a special power, what would you want?
   Caregiver Note: This question is primarily just for fun and bonding. The idea is to get a conversation going with your child and get to know each other better. However, talking about special powers may offer some insight into things your child values or wishes they could do.
2. Why do you think the kids at Emily Elizabeth’s school are so mean to her? Have similar things ever happened to someone at your school?
   Caregiver Note: We see a number of instances where Emily Elizabeth is bullied by her classmates for being different. They especially seem to tease her about her socioeconomic status. This can be a great opportunity to talk to your child(ren) about what bullying looks like and give them the opportunity to talk about their own experiences.
3. In addition to being mean to her at school, some of the kids also use cyberbullying against Emily Elizabeth. How do you think this affects her as compared to their actions at school?
   Caregiver Note: Cyberbullying is becoming more and more of a problem in today’s world of social media and technology. While all bullying is extremely harmful, a person’s home is usually seen as a safe retreat, even when the outside world is being hurtful. But with cyberbullying there’s no getting away from it. This can be an opportunity to talk to kids about cyberbullying, what it is and why it’s harmful. Posting a silly video about someone might feel like a harmless prank, with the added bonus of being able to say things anonymously. But by looking at this scene and the way Emily Elizabeth reacts it can help start a conversation about the subject as a family.
4. Clifford is not like other dogs. How do his unique traits help him?
   Caregiver Note: This isn’t a particularly deep question but it’s a fun way to get thinking and talking about how having unique strengths and abilities can be helpful and important. Experiencing childhood trauma can often lead to the development of poor self-esteem. Talking about how Clifford’s uniqueness helps him can be a way to lead into a conversation about the unique strengths of your child(ren) and the benefits those traits might have.
5. Do you think Uncle Casey was a good caregiver for Emily Elizabeth? Why or why not?
   Caregiver Note: Uncle Casey is portrayed as an immature and ‘goofy’ uncle character, but his care leans almost closer to being neglectful. Emily Elizabeth asks her mom not to leave her with him due to poor previous experiences and her mom does not listen and leaves her in his care anyway. Casey encourages her to break into her school and lie to her mother. He also doesn’t seem to keep a very close eye on her and she ends up in several dangerous situations under his watch. Children who have experienced trauma may not always know what a safe and positive caregiver relationship looks like. This can be an opportunity to talk about what is important in a caregiver. Their opinion of what makes a good or bad caregiver may also offer insight to some of their own experiences and expectation of what they might need from you in order to feel safe.
6. What about Emily Elizabeth? Is she a good caregiver to Clifford?
   Caregiver Note: This goes along with the previous question and serves to offer a compare/contrast moment in discussion. Emily Elizabeth refuses to abandon Clifford, even when he causes problems for her and her uncle. She takes risks to try to protect him and even is willing to send him away, even though it hurts her, because she wants what’s best for him and to keep him safe.
7. Why is everyone so afraid of Clifford? Do you think this is a fair judgement of him?
   Caregiver Note: Clifford is extremely large and red, two things that are not common traits in a dog. Because of this he is stigmatized as being dangerous and out-of-control. Those who know Clifford know that he is not this way and would never hurt anyone. In fact, he goes out of his way to try to help people. But those who don’t know him just see him as this big, scary thing that is different and they don’t understand. This only gets worse as Lifegro starts rumors in an attempt to kidnap him and they get the police to believe he is dangerous which in turn trickles into the community’s beliefs. The same stigma is often attached to kids, especially teenagers, in foster care. They are labeled as ‘bad’ or ‘dangerous’ which may lead the larger community to assume things about them, rather than getting to know the individual child. Talking about the ways in which Clifford is stigmatized may lead kids to open up about their own similar experiences. But if they need to keep the conversation about the characters, that’s okay too! Even then their answer to this question may offer some insight to their own feelings about the subject.
8. Why does Emily Elizabeth send Clifford away? Do you think she did the right thing?
   Caregiver Note: Because the police and Lifegro are hunting Clifford, Emily Elizabeth realizes she does not have the ability to keep him safe. Because of this she agreed to send him to live on an animal reserve that her friend’s father runs where he will be protected because it’s what’s best for him. Sending him away doesn’t mean she doesn’t love him, but that she recognizes she can’t give him what he needs right now and wants to make sure he is able to get that somewhere else. Kids may have different opinions as to whether or not this was the right thing to do, likely colored by their own experiences and it’s important to give space for those big feelings, whatever they are.
9.  How do you think it made Emily feel to have to send Clifford away? How about Clifford? Was there anything Emily could have done differently to make the goodbye easier for him?
   Caregiver Note: Emily takes the time to explain to Clifford the reasons why he has to leave and to tell him how much she cares for him. While the separation is still emotional and both characters are very upset about it, she does what she can to make it a healthy goodbye. Talking about this scene may also prompt children to bring up their own experiences with separation, either directly or indirectly. Talking about what Emily did/didn’t do as Clifford’s caregiver may reflect their own experience and what they wish had been different. It may also offer some insight to what might help them with future transitions.
10.  In the beginning of the movie Emily feels pretty alone, but by the end of the movie she realizes she actually has a lot of people in her life who care about her. Who are some of the people that make up your ‘village’?
    Caregiver Note: This may be a hard one for kiddos to answer, especially if this is a newer placement for them or if they’re newly in care. But it can also be a great opportunity to start a discussion about the people they have rooting for them that they might not realize. This may include foster/adoptive family, biological family, caseworkers, teachers, therapists, neighbors, friends, etc. Feeling a sense of community is important, as is knowing who are safe people to go to when something bad happens. When coming into foster care or adoption children are experiencing separation not only from their biological family but their community as well as they are often moving neighborhoods, schools, and in some cases even states or countries. Because of this it’s important to help them develop new bonds and/or find ways to maintain relationships from their old community (if it’s safe and viable to do so).

About the Author: Jenn Ehlers

Jenn is a central Virginia native who received her BA in Psychology from the University of Virginia in 2012. Since then she has worked for a local mental health agency and the Department of Social Services in various capacities and has been involved in her community’s efforts to create a Trauma Informed Network. Currently Jenn works in vocational rehab and mentors youth in foster care. When she isn’t working, Jenn enjoys writing stories, anything and everything Harry Potter, and spending time with her niece and nephew.

**Transfiguring Adoption is a nonprofit organization seeking to nurture growth in foster and adoptive families by giving a HOOT about their families. Transfiguring Adoption does not intend for its reviewers nor its review to be professional, medical or legal advice. These reviews and discussion guides are intended to help parents to better be able to connect and understand their children who come from traumatic backgrounds.