Major Clifford – Clifford the Big Red Dog
https://wiki.wizard101central.com/wiki/NPC:Major_Clifford
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_the_Big_Red_Dog
On the trail of Rententen, aka Corporal Yellmen, Detective Lassiter sends your wizard to talk with the off-duty troops that the legendary spy has talked to. Major Clifford and Lieutenant Snoopers are two of Her Majesty’s finest.
Major Clifford is mildly surprised when you ask about Rententen and identifies him as Corporal Yellman, Old Yeller as the troops called him. Major Clifford was unimpressed with Rententen’s descriptions of the wonderful citizen leadership of Polaris. He is convinced that a nation cannot function without a Queen. Any other form of government is balderdash.
Clifford the Big Red Dog is an American children’s book series about the adventures of a girl named Emily Elizabeth and her titular pet: a gigantic, red-furred dog named Clifford. It was first published in 1963 and was written by Norman Bridwell. The last book of the series was published in 2015 bringing the total to 91 books. Clifford is Scholastic’s official mascot.
The character was inspired by author Norman Bridwell’s childhood desire to own a dog the size of a horse. In 1962, Bridwell included paintings of what would become Clifford the Big Red Dog (who was named ‘Tiny’ at the time) in a portfolio of children’s literature illustrations. In the process of showcasing his portfolio for publishing houses, Susan Hirschman at Harper & Row suggested that Bridwell turn his drawings into a children’s story. Bridwell then developed a story around the dog and his owner, which he would eventually submit to Scholastic. His wife suggested the name “Clifford” after her imaginary friend from her childhood, and Emily Elizabeth was named after Bridwell’s daughter. The first book in the series was originally published by Scholastic in 1963.
Clifford is a male red dog whose appearance, disposition and behavior are based on a giant dog. His size is inconsistent: While he is often shown being about 25 feet (7.5 m) tall from paws to head, Clifford can appear far larger. The character’s name is based on the imaginary childhood friend of Norman Bridwell’s wife, Norma Bridwell. Bridwell originally wanted to name the dog “Tiny”, but his wife persuaded him that “Clifford” was better. Clifford’s pet owner is Emily Elizabeth. Clifford has a mother, two brothers, and two sisters, all of whom are normal-sized dogs. Clifford was originally the runt of the litter, seemingly fated to be small and sick, but grew to an enormous size apparently due to Emily Elizabeth’s love and care. Clifford’s character was created when a Harper & Row editor advised Bridwell to write a story to go along with one of his pictures. Bridwell recalls she picked out his sketch of a baby girl with a horse-sized bloodhound, and casually said, “There might be a story in this” because there always was one.
Scholastic Media produced a 65-episode adaptation shown on PBS Kids, which aired from September 2000 to February 2003. Clifford was voiced by John Ritter, and Emily Elizabeth was voiced by Grey DeLisle. There was also a 39-episode prequel series that took place during Clifford’s puppyhood, which ran from September 2003 to February 2006, with Lara Jill Miller as the voice of young Clifford. During that time, a theatrical film was released in February 2004 and served as the series finale, as there were not any new episodes released after John Ritter’s death. However, a new series was released on December 6, 2019 for Amazon Prime Video and December 7, 2019 on PBS Kids with Adam Sanders and Hannah Levinson as the new voices of Clifford and Emily Elizabeth respectively.
The current list of all the (known) Novus references are located here.
Although I am well versed in Pop Culture references but I do not claim to have caught them all. Let me know your favorites in the comments and if I’ve missed one you caught, let me know so I can add it to the list.
Text for this article is excerpted from the linked wiki pages
Major Clifford image is from Wizard101, and is copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment.
Clifford the Big Red Dog cover is borrowed from Amazon.com It is copyright Scholastic Inc.
Cast photo is borrowed from PBS.org Image is copyright PBS and Scholastic Media.
Image usage qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.
Vulcan Stev's Database 