Clifford the Big Red Dog film teaser unnerves fans with a dog that’s ‘too realistic’

At least no-one can accuse the film of false advertising…

The first teaser for the live-action Clifford the Big Red Dog film has been released, sparking a mixed reaction from viewers.

Based on Norman Birdwell’s popular series of children’s books, Clifford’s cast includes Jack Whitehall, Kenan Thompson, Rosie Perez and John Cleese.

The short promo footage features a line-up of conventionally coloured, regular-size dogs, sitting alongside Clifford. 

However, the appearance of Clifford has caused surprise and consternation among many viewers, with the dog – which many have interpreted as a real dog that has been tinted red with CGI – drawing comparisons to infamous CGI misfires from other films.

One Twitter user compared the image of Clifford to Will Smith’s blue-skinned genie from Aladdin, and Taylor Swift’s unnerving feline in Cats.

“Clifford may be the movie that kills realistic portrayals of cartoon characters,” wrote one person.

“You know how you fixed Sonic, Paramount – you might want to do the same here,” wrote another.

“That dog looks uncomfortable,” wrote someone else. “I would rather see a 2D version of the film.”

“My kid would be the audience for this I guess,” wrote one parent, “but she gets freaked out when Daniel Tiger holds one of the word bubbles in a book, a realistic Clifford would be too much, too much.”

Others, however, were more positive, with one person arguing: “not sure why people are hating on this. He looks like an adorable red dog?”

The film will be released in 2021.