Clifford (1994)

Clifford is a ten-year-old troublemaker, who puts not only his parents through hell, but also his uncle with whom his parents have discarded him to.

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:

character name as title | troublemaker | uncle nephew relationship | one word title | manipulation | 

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Taglines:

What's the difference between Clifford and a pit bull? One will tear your heart out, scare your friends and wreck your house. The other one is a dog.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 April 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Clifford - Das kleine Scheusal

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,571,000, 3 April 1994

Gross USA:

$7,411,659

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film made the Worst of 1994 list by late critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel on their show in January 1995, who properly trashed the film and stating that Martin Short looked creepy playing a ten year-old boy.

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Goofs

Towards the beginning of the movie, Father Clifford is standing in front of a brick wall when Roger jumps from a window and lands on Clifford. Clifford goes down, but the camera does not move. Right before Clifford and Roger get up, the shadows on the brick wall instantly shift, revealing that scene was edited together from multiple takes.

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Quotes

[Clifford procures Stephen from Uncle Martin]
Clifford: He says please don't hurt him, he's the only one left in his family.
Martin Daniels: Just go to your room and write your confession! Pretty soon there won't be anyone left in his family!

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Alternate Versions

Also in the airing on TV version, when Martin drinks the hot sauce Clifford puts in his drink and when Parker tells him to get on with it, his words have been changed to: "Come on, Daniel, get on with it." From "God dammit Daniel, get on with it!"

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: The Worst Films of 1994 (1995)

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.