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:

Uncle Martin is suffering from a little problem...

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of a handful of films that were made between 1990 and 1991 that finally got their theatrical releases after Orion Pictures had gone into bankruptcy despite sweeping the Oscars in consecutive years with their successes, "Dances With Wolves" in 1990, and "The Silence of the Lambs" in 1991 coincidentally. Orion released their usual slate of films but a very minimal one after their announcement which included Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey (which made the same money as the original at the box office), Eve of Destruction, Little Man Tate, Mystery Date, F/X 2 and Married To It (which completely bombed and only added to the studio's woes). The other films include Article 99 and Shadows And Fog (Woody Allen's final film for the studio) in 1992, RoboCop 3, The Dark Half and Love Field in 1993 and The Favor, Blue Sky, Bar Girls, Car 54, Where Are You?, China Moon and this film, which cleaned out the studio's long delayed slate. Orion would resurface briefly a year after this film was released with couple of releases which included "Jeffery" starring Wings' Steven Weber and would attempt a major comeback in a partnership with Live Entertainment in 1996 and 1997 with a healthy slate of films which included "The Arrival", "The Substitute", "Original Gangstas", "City of Industry", "8 Heads In A Duffel Bag", "I Shot Andy Warhol", "Phat Beach", "Ulee's Gold", "Gang Related" (notable for being the last film starring the late Tupac Shakur after his untimely death a year earlier) and "Trees Lounge" along with a few that went to the direct to video route.

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Goofs

When Clifford was going very fast on Larry the Scary Rex, there are strings attached to the harness visible behind the skeleton sitting next to him.

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Quotes

Clifford: I'm sorry
Martin Daniels: [pushes Clifford away as he tries to hug him] NO, NO, Clifford don't, I don't want to hug you. I can't imagine anyone ever wanting to hug you.
Clifford: But I really am sorry.
Martin Daniels: You really are sorry?, you know sorrow is a human emotion, and as we know, you are not a human boy, you're just, this, this destructive thing who everyone will eventually get to hate you... LET'S GO!
Clifford: Well if you really feel that way, then why should I go with you?
Martin Daniels: THEN DON'T!... it's your choice.

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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

Referenced in At the Movies: Natural Born Killers/Blankman/Fresh/Wagons East/The Advocate (1994)

User Reviews

Martin Short is Funny..........Isn't He?

Am I one of only a handful of people who think Martin Short is hysterical? The only way a goofy plot like the one in this film could possibly work is if the lead actor was a true genius of comedy, a man among Canadians, a charming elf-like creature I like to call Martin Shortman. Martin Short relies heavily on facial movement and voice tonal changes to make his character Clifford funny. Through the annoyance of his dear Uncle Martin surely we all can get along and laugh together as a family of opinionated movie viewers just looking for a good time, a few chuckles now and then to make us forget that we have low paying jobs and live in shoddily built ranch-style homes overlooking well built but poorly placed sewage treatment plants. Bottom line is that if you really like Martin Short then you will think this movie is hilarious, if you don't then don't waste your time because you can't have it back.

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