Clifford (1994)

A bratty 10-year-old boy is obsessed with visiting a dinosaur-themed amusement park; his uptight uncle takes the wily tyke in for a week and barely lives to regret it.

Director:

Paul Flaherty

Writers:

William Porter (as Jay Dee Rock), Steven Kampmann (as Bobby von Hayes)

Stars:

Martin Short, Charles Grodin, Mary Steenburgen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Martin Short	...	Clifford Daniels
Charles Grodin	...	Martin Daniels
Mary Steenburgen	...	Sarah Davis
Dabney Coleman	...	Gerald Ellis
Richard Kind	...	Julien Daniels
Jennifer Savidge	...	Theodora Daniels
Brandis Kemp	...	Woman on Plane
Ben Savage	...	Roger
Don Galloway	...	Captain
Tim Lane	...	Navigator
Susan Varon	...	Woman Passerby
Josh Seal	...	Kevin
Kevin Mockrin	...	Kevin
Timothy Stack	...	Kevin's Father
Marianne Muellerleile	...	Kevin's Mother

Storyline

In this dark comedy, a mischievous ten-year-old boy named Clifford is sent to his Uncle Martin's for the weekend to get out of his father's hair. It turns out he has a dying obsession to go to Dinosaur World, a theme park near Martin's house and nothing will get in his way to get there.

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Plot Keywords:

prank | selfishness | roller coaster | orphanage | los angeles california | 

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Taglines:

A comedy with a lot of laughs. And a ten-year-old terror.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The writers of the film, Steven Kampmann and William Porter, were so embarrassed by the final cut that they used pseudonyms as onscreen credit, as well as the film's marketing and publicity.

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Goofs

Martin's answering machine message says "...I've got a bomb under City Hall." When Clifford was recording their talk, Martin never said "under". If that was in the answering machine message originally, there is no way that Clifford could have known the exact moment Martin would say "under" or "number" which sounds like "under". Furthermore, the "I got a bomb" could not have been the length from "Hello, this is Martin Daniels. I'm not here right now..." until "under".

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Quotes

Martin Daniels: What do you mean you're out of chocolate? How can that be?
Cashier: Everybody want chocolate. I'm out of chocolate.
Martin Daniels: I NEED CHOCOLATE!
Cashier: Alright, alright, I might have an Easter Bunny left over in the frige.
Martin Daniels: [grabs him by the lapels] Get me the bunny!

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Alternate Versions

When aired on Comedy Central and later on the Disney Channel, five scenes deleted from the final cut are restored and also to edit out questionable content. The first one has Clifford and his parents forced off the plane when Clifford makes it land in Los Angeles. The second one has Clifford in the airport pretending to be a poor, deaf boy and many passerby's are seen donating gifts to him. The third one occurs when Clifford and Martin exit Sarah's house and he tells Clifford that Sneakers, the dog that he stole from the airport, ran away, much to Clifford's sadness. The fourth one occurs after the mini-mart incident, when Sarah and Mr. Ellis are in his private plane overlooking a possible site for a new daycare center. The fifth and final deleted scene shows Clifford sleeping over at Sarah's house, following Martin's arrest, offering her his great grandmother's wedding ring.

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Connections

References The Brady Bunch (1969)

User Reviews

Nice movie

I just watched this movie on TV and came here to see what other people think about it. I was very much shocked to see that the lead actor Martin Short was 40+ when this movie was made. He is playing a 10 year old brat in this movie and I got to say he has done very well at that. Though he doesn't quite look like a 10 year old but he surely comes close to it. This is a movie about a 10 year old boy, Clifford, who is very mischievous and raises hell everywhere he goes. Sick of his mischiefs, his parents leave him with his Uncle who is a middle-aged man and is trying to convince her fiancée that he likes kids and that's the reason why he agrees to keep Clifford with him. As the movie goes on, Clifford completely destroys his Uncle's life with his pranks because he didn't take him to the local Dinosaur Park. Although the ending wasn't the best but most of the movie is really good. This may not be the best movie you'll ever see but its a nice one to watch with your family. I think kids will really like it. It is really hilarious. I was very surprised to see the IMDb user rating for this movie being a moderate 4.2 and that's why I thought I should stand up for this movie. I think its far better than what the rating suggests.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 April 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Clifford

Filming Locations:

Culver Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,571,043, 3 April 1994

Gross USA:

$7,408,745

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,408,745

Company Credits

Production Co:

Orion Pictures, Morra, Brezner, Steinberg and Tenenbaum Entertainment (MBST)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1