Clifford | Scholastic Media Room

Posted April 20th, 2009 by rthomas

Clifford 50th

AT–A–GLANCE

What is it?

Since the first Clifford book was published in 1963, the property has expanded to include 126 million books in print and an Emmy® Award-winning television series – currently airing on its twelfth consecutive season on PBS KIDS in the United States; the show has been sold to 30 countries in 12 languages worldwide.

Who’s it for?

Kids ages 2 and up

VISIT THE SITES

scholastic.com/clifford
facebook.com/officialclifford
scholastic.com/apps
PBS Kids

More Information

Books/Author Interviews
Tracy van Straaten
Scholastic
tvanstraaten@scholastic.com
(212) 389-3782

Television and Consumer Products
Goodman Media
Meghan Newton
mnewton@goodmanmedia.com
212-576-2700

“He’s red and he’s warm. Clifford does what you’d like to do but can’t. Because Clifford is so big and also because he’s a dog, he’s able to do the most unbelievable and imaginative things”

Norman Bridwell

Press Releases

Scholastic Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Original Publication of "Clifford the Big Red Dog"
February 14, 2013

Scholastic Media and Hands On Network Announce Winners of Fourth Annual "Be BIG" in Your Community Contest
October 3, 2012,

Scholastic and the Y to Celebrate 50 Big Years of Clifford the Big Red Dog®
September 28, 2012

Clifford's 'Biggest Birthday Party Ever' Kicks off 50th Anniversary Celebration
September 24, 2012
Photos from the event
Banner Drop video file

Scholastic Launches 'Clifford's Big Birthday App' in Celebration of Clifford the Big Red Dog's 50th Anniversary
September 19, 2012

Scholastic Celebrates 50 Big Years of Clifford the Big Red Dog
July 17, 2012

New Research Finds Kids & Teens More Exposed to Character Education Volunteer More
February 1, 2012
View the survey results here

Scholastic Media and Mills Entertainment Debut an All-New Clifford the Big Red Dog® LIVE Musical Production
January 6, 2012

Scholastic Media and HandsOn Network Announce Winners of Third Annual Clifford the Big Red Dog® BE BIG™ in Your Community Contest to Support Civic Engagement
October 12, 2011

Scholastic Media Kicks Off Third Year of Clifford The Big Red Dog BE BIG Campaign
February 1, 2011

Scholastic Media Debuts "Touch & Tilt" Line of Interactive Storybook Apps for iPad
January 3, 2011

Scholastic Media and HandsOn Network Announce Winners of Second Annual Clifford the Big Red Dog Be Big in Your Community Contest
October 19, 2010

Scholastic Launches Clifford the Big Red Dog® Publishing Program in Support of BE BIG™ Campaign that Encourages Civic Engagement
March 4, 2010

Scholastic Media Bolsters Year Two of Clifford the Big Red Dog® BE BIG™ Campaign
January 19, 2010

American Family Insurance Sponsors Clifford the Big Red Dog® BE BIG™ Campaign
January 5, 2010

PBS Kids, Scholastic Media Celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service with "BE BIG" with Clifford
November 24, 2009

Scholastic Media Announces Winners of National Clifford The Big Red Dog BE BIG in Your Community Contest
October 5, 2009

The Scholastic Clifford BE BIG Initiative is Showcased at National Conference on Volunteering and Service with Michelle Obama
June 23, 2009

Scholastic Media Announces National Clifford The Big Red Dog "BE BIG In Your Community" Contest
April 20, 2009

Scholastic Media Launches National Clifford The Big Red Dog® Campaign Based on Clifford’s Big Ideas
February 2, 2009

Clifford The Big Red Dog® Grows Globally With Licensing Programs into 2008 and Beyond
May 27, 2008

OVERVIEW

For 50 years, Clifford The Big Red Dog has been entertaining children, parents and teachers with his BIG adventures. In his beloved dog, Norman Bridwell created a literary classic embraced by generations around the world that has become one of America’s oldest and most beloved children’s characters. Clifford emphasizes good citizenship and the importance of community. Through the character of Clifford, whose heart is as big as he is, children absorb gentle lessons about acceptance and inclusion through Clifford’s BIG Ideas (Share, Play Fair, Have Respect, Be Responsible, Work Together, Be Truthful, Be Kind, Believe in Yourself, Be A Good Friend and Help Others). It's Clifford's "every dog" kindness that has made him a beloved icon with children and parents for 50 years. Regardless of the specific topic, Clifford's stories always demonstrate tolerance, encouraging young viewers to approach the world with open hearts and minds.

o Clifford continues to spread his love with over 200 costume character appearances annually at local community, charity, and library events and at bookstores nationwide. Clifford kicked-off his 50th Anniversary with the BIGGEST Party Ever this past September. The brand has continued to celebrate this BIG milestone with new publishing, new Clifford products, a television show in its twelfth season on PBS KIDS, a new live show, and so much more.

BOOKS

With more than 126 million books in print, Clifford is a literary classic that is embraced by parents, teachers, and kids.
This September Scholastic kicked off the 50th anniversary school-year-long celebration with the publication of The Clifford Collection, a collection of six classic Clifford stories originally published between 1963-1977. Also included in the book is an original letter from Norman Bridwell to the reader, information about the creation of Clifford — including the original (and never-before-seen) 1962 painting that inspired the Clifford series — the story behind the real Emily Elizabeth, and more!
There are 50 Clifford unique Clifford titles – both picture books and readers - available on Storia – Scholastic’s new eReading app
Clifford books are published in 13 languages, and are distributed in territories worldwide including Asia, Europe and Latin America

TELEVISION

The animated television series, produced by Scholastic Media, is based on the books of the same name and uses classic storytelling to present universal social, emotional, and moral messages to young children. The fun-filled episodes follow Clifford and his pals (both canine and human) as they play, discover and interact with each other and the inhabitants of Birdwell Island (an homage to Norman Bridwell), learning that good friends are what life is all about. The stories are fun, gentle and kid-relatable — and deal with every-day issues that kids are experiencing. Most importantly, children learn that the world is out there to be discovered with gusto.
The show currently is airing its twelfth season on PBS KIDS (Check Local Listings) with nearly 2,000 plays per week.
The brand continues to perform well internationally with television episodes sold to more than 30 countries worldwide
On December 14, 2012, Clifford’s Really Big Movie premiered on PBS Kids!

INTERACTIVE

Three Clifford's apps are available for download: Go, Clifford, Go!, Clifford BE BIG With Words and Clifford's BIG Birthday.
Clifford’s Rhyme Race App for LeapFrog’s LeapPad released in December 2012.

WEBSITE

The official site is www.scholastic.com/clifford; newly re-designed, the site is the dedicated resource for kids, parents and teachers for all things CLIFFORD!
The Clifford The Big Red Dog website won a 2012 Interactive Media award; In the Kids category, the Clifford website was a best in class award winner!

CONSUMER PRODUCTS

In the 2012-2013 year, new deals included DVDs from Lionsgate, plush toy releases from Douglas and Zoobies, games and puzzles from Patch Products and Canadian Games, party supplies from Buy Seasons, and coloring and activity titles from Bendon, Clifford products for crane arcade games from A&A Global, bookmarks and book lights for Andrews Blaine, Clifford science experiments and lab kids from The Young Scientists Club, and decorated cookies from Color-A-Cookie. Scholastic Audio included never-before-heard bonus material from Norman Bridwell on a number of its Clifford releases.
A new live show, CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG LIVE! A BIG FAMILY MUSICAL, debuted in January. For tour dates and locations visit scholastic.com/clifford/liveshow
Scholastic and the Minnesota Children’s Museum created the ‘Adventures with Clifford The Big Red Dog’ exhibit which transports visitors to the world of Clifford and all of the residents of Birdwell Island. For a current schedule – please go to http://www.scholastic.com/clifford/museum.htm

BE BIG™

BE BIG is a national campaign that invites everyone, big and small, to take action and raise awareness for how Clifford's Big Ideas can make the world a better place. The mission of BE BIG is to recognize and reward others for their BE BIG actions, to catalyze change in local communities and to provide resources for everyone to share Big Ideas!
Winners for the fourth annual CLIFFORD BE BIG IN YOUR COMMUNITY CONTEST will be announced in October.
The Be Big Campaign won the 2011 W3 Silver Award Winner in the Integrated Campaign for Children Category

AWARDS

The Clifford television series earned numerous industry excellence awards including nine Daytime Emmy Award Nominations, two Cine Golden Eagle awards and a New York Film Festival Award. The Clifford Puppy Days series was a 2005 Daytime Emmy Award Winner and four-time Daytime Emmy Award Nominee. Most recently, the ‘Go, Clifford, Go! App’ was identified as one of the “Best Children’s Books on iPad” by The New York Times.
For a full list of awards, click here.

CLIFFORD’S BIG MILESTONES

1963
- Clifford The Big Red Dog, by Norman Bridwell, was published by Scholastic.
2000
- The Clifford The Big Red Dog TV Series premiered on PBS KIDS.
- Two Clifford The Big Red Dog CD-ROMs (Clifford Thinking Adventures and Clifford Reading) based on the Clifford the Big Red Dog books released
2003
- The Clifford’s Puppy Days TV Series premiered on PBS KIDS™.
2004
- CLIFFORD'S REALLY BIG MOVIE was released
- ‘Adventures with Clifford The Big Red Dog Traveling Exhibit’ debuted at the Minnesota Children’s Museum.
2005
- Henry Winkler received a Daytime Emmy Award for “Outstanding Performer in an Animated Series” for his role as Norville on the Clifford’s Puppy Days™ TV series.
2009
- Scholastic Media launches the BE BIG!™ campaign
- Scholastic Media releases the first Clifford app, Clifford BE BIG with Words, for iPhone™ and iPod touch®.
- PBS KIDS® and Scholastic Media kick-off a “BE BIG WITH CLIFFORD: TEN DAYS, TEN WAYS”
- Scholastic partnered with FAO SCHWARZ on BE BIG™
2010
- Ten best-selling CLIFFORD titles were newly repackaged with BE BIG branding
2011
- Scholastic Media released the first Clifford TOUCH & TILT app, GO, CLIFFORD, GO!, for iPhone™ and iPod touch®.
2012
- “Clifford The Big Red Dog: A BIG Family Musical” debuts