Digital artisans replaced dog trainers on “Cruella.” The 2019 film version of “The Lion King” did its best impression of a David Attenborough documentary.
Here, Clifford resembles a jolting golden retriever dyed vermilion red, and his looming cartoon height translates to a manageable 10 feet — just short enough to squeeze through the brownstone doorways of his new home in Manhattan.
Still, naturalism is hard to fake, and it’s difficult to divorce Clifford from the lines of code that animate him; indeed, when Clifford yipped loudly onscreen, my very real dog, lying beside me, didn’t even stir.