Footrot Flats

For the 1986 animated film, see Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale.
Footrot Flats
The first edition of the book Footrot Flats, released in 1978
Author(s)Murray Ball
Launch date1976
End date1994
Genre(s)Humour, Gag-a-day

Footrot Flats, a comic strip by New Zealand cartoonist Murray Ball, ran from 1976 to 1994 in newspapers (unpublished strips continued to appear in book form until 2000).[1] Altogether there are 27 numbered books (collecting the newspaper strips, with additional material), a further 8 books collecting the Sunday newspaper strips, and 5 smaller "pocket" books of original material, plus various related publications. The strips inspired a stage musical, an animated feature film called Footrot Flats: the Dog's Tail Tale, and the Footrot Flats Fun Park in Auckland, New Zealand. The strip reached its peak of popularity in the mid-1980s,[citation needed] with the books selling millions of copies in Australasia.

The comic's protagonist is a border-collie sheepdog known as "the Dog", owned by Wal Footrot, who runs a sheep and cattle farm called Footrot Flats near the fictional rural town of Raupo in New Zealand. The comic depicts the trials and tribulations of Wal, the Dog and other characters, human and animal, which they encounter. The Dog's thoughts are voiced in thought bubbles, though he is clearly "just a dog", unlike the heavily anthropomorphised creatures of some other comics or animation. The humour draws on the foibles of the characters, which many farmers found easy to recognise around them.[2][3] There was much "humour in adversity", making fun of the daily struggle that permeates farming life.[4] The depictions of the animals are quite realistic and detailed, with a dose of comic anthropomorphism superimposed without spoiling the farming realism.[5]

  1. ^ "Footrot Flats goes digital". The Gisborne Herald. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Footrot Flats: After 40 years, The Dog puts The Ball to rest". The Weekly Times. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  3. ^ Forrester, Georgia (16 July 2019). "Whatever happened to ... NZ's iconic Footrot Flats cartoons?". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  4. ^ "NZ POLITICS DAILY: The anti-establishment politics of Murray Ball". The National Business Review. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  5. ^ Scott, Tom (13 March 2017). "Murray Ball remembered: The origins of his cartooning genius". New Zealand Listener. Retrieved 11 October 2019.