Clifford's Puppy Days facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Clifford's Puppy Days
Genre	Children's
Created by	Norman Bridwell (characters)
Directed by	Bob Doucette (Season 1) Joey Ahlbum (Season 2)
Voices of	Lara Jill Miller Grey DeLisle Cam Clarke Kath Soucie Masiela Lusha Orlando Brown LaTonya Holmes Ogie Banks Jess Harnell Lauren Tom Henry Winkler Candi Milo
Theme music composer	Jared Faber Emily Kapnek
Opening theme	"Love Makes Little Things Grow" by Freedom Bremner
Ending theme	"Love Makes Little Things Grow" (Instrumental)
Composer(s)	Jared Faber
Country of origin	United States United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	39 (78 segments)
Production
Running time	25 minutes
Production company(s)	Scholastic Entertainment Mike Young Productions (Season 1 only)
Distributor	Scholastic (United States) TV-Loonland AG (Europe)
Release
Original network	PBS (PBS Kids)
Original release	September 20, 2003 (2003-09-20) – February 25, 2006 (2006-02-25)
Chronology
Preceded by	Clifford the Big Red Dog (2000)
Related shows	Clifford the Big Red Dog (2019)

Clifford's Puppy Days is an American-British animated children's television series that originally aired on PBS Kids from September 20, 2003 to February 25, 2006. A prequel to the 2000–2003 series Clifford the Big Red Dog, it features the adventures of Clifford during his puppy days before he became a big red dog and before moving to Birdwell Island.

The series ended in February 2006 after two seasons and 39 episodes. Since then, occasional reruns continue to air.

In the United Kingdom, the series aired on CBeebies from 2003 to early 2011 and like the original series, the prequel was dubbed with British voice actors, replacing the original American soundtrack.

The show featured Henry Winkler as the voice of Norville; Winkler was nominated for 2 Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for his work on the series and he won in 2005.

Setting

Set two years (1998) before the events of Clifford the Big Red Dog, the series focuses on when Clifford is a tiny red puppy, the runt of the litter in a litter of puppies given birth to by the pet dog of Emily Elizabeth's neighbor, Mr. Bradley (who appeared in an episode of the first cartoon series, "Little Clifford") and after he had been adopted by Emily Elizabeth and before he grew up into a giant red adult dog, forcing the Howards to move to Birdwell Island so Clifford would have plenty of room, the series shows Clifford and Emily Elizabeth's life and friends before they moved from New York City to Birdwell Island and all of their adventures to make room magic.

Format

The series followed the same format as its predecessor, Clifford the Big Red Dog.

• The opening theme is followed by the first central story, which is sometimes about the animals, and a problem they face.
• Storytime with Speckle – Between the first and second story, Emily Elizabeth reads Clifford the Speckle Story, a small 60-second (approximately) time filler about a fictional dog (Speckle) and his animal friends.
• This is followed by another central story sometimes about Emily Elizabeth and her friends.
• Clifford's Idea to Grow On – Before the credits, another 30-second short takes place called Clifford's Idea to Grow On. The short is basically an animation of an etiquette, a proverb, or basic truth such as "Play Fair", "Help Others", etc., with narration by Emily Elizabeth. This short was called Clifford's Big Idea in the previous series.
• Live action segments with real kids and their dogs.

On UK airings, only one story is shown, with either the Storytime with Speckle or the Clifford's Idea to Grow On segments at the end, shortening the show to about 15 minutes.

Characters

Humans

• Emily Elizabeth Howard (voiced by Grey DeLisle; Joanna Ruiz in the British version) – 6-year-old owner of Clifford and Daffodil.
• Nina Flores (voiced by Masiela Lusha) – owner of Jorge.
• Evan Thomas Taylor (voiced by Orlando Brown) – A boy who looks a few years older than Emily Elizabeth.
• Shun (voiced by Lauren Tom; Ben Small in the British version) – A young Japanese-American boy.
• Mr. Solomon (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer) – A wheelchair-bound writer. Flo and Zo are his two pet kittens. In the episodes "The Big, Big Present/Hanukkah Plunder Blunder," it is revealed that he, Flo, and Zo are Jewish.
• Mrs. Z (also voiced by Taylor) – An elderly Italian woman who was once in the circus, and owner of Trixie
• Jenny (voiced by Dionne Quan) – A blind girl and owner of Bibi

Animals

• Clifford (voiced by Lara Jill Miller; Lizzie Waterworth in the British version) – A small red puppy. His owner is Emily Elizabeth Howard.
• Daffodil (voiced by Kath Soucie) – A Holland Lop. In the first half of the series she was originally pink but her fur was changed to white in the second half.
• Flo and Zo (voiced by LaTonya Holmes and Ogie Banks, respectively) – Kittens who are brother and sister, They are owned by Mr. Solomon. In the episodes "The Big, Big Present/Hanukkah Plunder Blunder," it is revealed that they and Mr. Solomon are Jewish.
• The Sidarskis – A family of mice who live in the laundromat. They have five children, Lucy, Lewis, Sophie, Sid, and a new baby.
• Jorge/George (UK) (voiced by Jess Harnell; Benjamin Small in the British version) – A brown dachshund whose owner is Nina.
• Bibi (voiced by Jill Talley) – A Golden Retriever Seeing-eye dog, She belongs to a blind girl named Jenny.
• Tricksie (voiced by Russi Taylor) – An elderly dog who once performed in the circus with her owner, Mrs. Z.
• Norville (voiced by Henry Winkler; Tom Eastwood in the British version) – A bird.

Episodes

Each half-hour episode was divided into 2 stories.

Season 1 (2003–2005)

Season 2 (2004–2005)

Season 3 (2005–2006)

Opening theme

The opening theme, "Love Makes Little Things Grow", was composed by Jared Faber and Emily Kapnek and performed by Freedom Bremner.