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Footrot Flats

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'drootrot Flats was a comic strip written by New Zealand cartoonist Murray Ball. It ran from 1975 until 1994 in newspapers around the world, though the unpublished strips continued to be released in book form until 2000. 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. There was also a stage musical, an animated feature film called Footrot Flats: the Dog's Tail Tale, and even a theme park in New Zealand. The strip reached its peak of popularity in the mid 1980's, with the books selling millions of copies in Australasia. At various times, Ball cited different reasons for quitting the strip, including the death of his own dog, and his displeasure with the direction of New Zealand politics.

The cartoon was based around the life of Wal Footrot's sheep dog, "Dog", on their farm Footrot Flats (hence the title), and the other characters, human and animal, that came into their lives. Dog's thoughts are voiced in thought bubbles, though he is clearly "just a dog" rather than the heavily anthromorphised creatures sometimes found in other comics or animation. The humour was based around the foibles of the characters, which many, particularly farmers themselves, found easy to recognise around them. There was much "humour in adversity", making fun of the daily struggle that permeates farming life. The depictions of the animals are quite realistic and detailed, with a dose of comic anthropomorphism superimposed without spoiling the farming realism.

Main characters

File:Footrot flats strip.gif
A scene from a 1995 Footrot Flats comic strip - showing Wal and The Dog
"The Dog"
The main character of the book, a Border Collie. Thinks of himself as tough, but is really quite soft and often cowardly. He has a real name but despises it and has never allowed anyone to reveal it. Wal always calls him "Dog", gaining loyal devotion. Often put to use to guard things or get rid of rats or pigs - which he fails to do. However, he is a competent sheepdog. He also has a couple of alter egos, "The Scarlet Manuka", "Mitey Iron Paw" and "the Grey Ghost of The Forest", that appear from time to time. Was the mascot of the All Blacks for a few seasons. The insipiration for The Dog supposedly came from Ball's own farm-dog, Finn (a little hard to explain, since the strip had already been running for several years when Finn was born). Apparently Ball originally did select a name for the dog but decided to never reveal it. There is a Mary Sue touch about the Dog.
Wallace "Wal" Footrot
The owner of the Dog and Footrot Flats. A decent bloke although a bit of a slob. A rugby union player, plays for the town team and dreams of one day playing for the All Blacks. Also plays cricket when in season.
Socrates "Cooch" Windgrass
Runs the farm next to Wal, has compassion for all living creatures and things and thus has a natural way with animals. But he is no vegetarian. Owns a pet Magpie called Pew who is constantly attacking Wal (Wal chopped down his family's nest tree, orphaning Pew and making him a 'social misfit'). Cooch never drives a tractor, preferring to plod along on his Clydesdales. Wal's best friend (besides the Dog, of course!).
Dahlene "Cheeky" Hobson
Wal's on-again/off-again girlfriend. Works at a hair salon. Cheeky is despised by the Dog, who is always looking for a way to come between her and Wal. Near the end of the strip's run, she and Wal become engaged, but at the last minute she dumps Wal to move out of town with a male stripper.
Rangi Wiremu Waka Jones
A local boy who often appears on the farm to give Wal a hand. As a testimony to Murray Ball's skill as an artist, the character of Rangi actually grew up over the years in the book, appearing slightly older in each book from being a little kid to a teenager.
Janice "Pongo" Footrot
Wal's niece, daughter of Rex Footrot. Like Rangi, she aged during the book. She starts off very much a stereotyped girl, dressing up the Dog in a pram and playing dolls, however she slowly turned into a strong pro-feminist. She insists that she was nicknamed Pongo because she was good at ping pong, not because she ponged as a baby ("Anyway, babies don't smell, MUCH!")
Dolores Monrovia Godwit "Aunt Dolly" Footrot
Wal's aunt. Owns a cat home (where Dog was born). Very conservative and does not like Wal being with Cheeky at all. But under her strictness she has a kind heart and takes to mothering abandoned lambs in the winter. Dog despises her for giving him his name — which he does not reveal.
Horse
A large, fierce and practically invincible cat, based on a cat Murray Ball owned. In Book 7 there's a brief ode to Horse written in the front pages, to commemorate the real Horse's passing. The character is a menace to Dog and the other characters, resisting attempts to be tamed by Aunt Dolly or others. He has a girlfriend (Fred) who frequents with a Bikie gang and loves leather. Occasionally fathers kittens. He and Dog frequently cross paths which end up with the Dog on the short end. Horse spoke a little in the earlier comics, but in later ones he mainly spoke out via actions and yowls.
Prince Charles
A VERY spoilt English Corgi owned by Aunt Dolly. Has a higher view on life from listening to Aunt Dolly and living inside. Often there are "class" clashes between him and Dog. He is easily stirred and the Dog usually has to explain to him the rougher aspects of farm life — like livestock mating and maggots eating without gravy.

The characters are invariably known by their nicknames, such as Cooch, Pongo, Rangi, and Aunt Dolly.

Minor characters

Puti Puti
Rangi's Cousin. A city slicker, often gains a culture shock when coming to the farm. Usually confuses Dog who attempts to be hip like the city dogs.
Pew
Cooch's pet magpie. Orphaned when Wal cut down his parents' tree; Socially confused and always seeking revenge.
Jess
Cooch's dog as well as the Dog's girlfriend and co-parent. The Dog's Tail Tale contains the story of them meeting as puppies.
Cooch's cousin Kathy
A beautiful, occasional visitor to Cooch and Wal. Her face remains a mystery as she is always drawn facing away from the reader. Loved by everyone, including the dog and especially Cooch.
Stewart "Irish" Murphy
Wal's other neighbour. Always appears filthy, probably due to farming numerous pigs, which cause Wal plenty of grief. Has two loutish sons; Hunk and Spit. There is also Lex Murphy, who we know to be Hunk's nephew.
"Irish" Murphy's pigs
A fearsome gang of five or six enormous beasts. Often lurk in the nearby river, causing consternation to unsuspecting fishermen or dogs. Always ravenous, they once defeated and ate some large sharks that swam up the estuary.
Tiger, Wolf and Creampuff, "Irish" Murphy's pig-dogs
They often terrorise Dog who seeks help from Wal, Horse or Major. Now and then Dog tries to take all three of them on at once.
Major
Wal's first dog. A hunting dog, very stern and usually foul-tempered. But has some fondness for Dog, often saving him from Murphy's dogs.
Hermit Ram
This character appears now and then. It's a ram that's run off from the group and lives in the scrub of the farm. Now and then it appears with interest in the female sheep and Dog is often sent to stop it. Now and then it's hunted — but often outdoes its pursuers.
Cecil the Ram
An aged stud ram, who patently lacks zest for the task of servicing Wal's ewes. He soon rediscovers his libido when Wal sharpens the butchery knife.
Other hostile animals
Horace and Dolores (pigs); the Goose; the Turkey. In the early strip, these critters were Dog's main tormentors. In one strip, the Goose is chasing Wal and the Turkey is chasing the Dog, but Wal kicks the Turkey's head in and the Dog jumps on the Goose's neck, then Wal and the Dog celebrate their partnership. Later the irascible tomcat Horse became Dog's main nemesis (and sometime ally).
The goat
The third strongest animal on the farm (the first being horse and the second aunt dolly), the goat lives tethered to a chain in Wal's backyard. Didn't have many appearances at first, but soon became more popular in the strip.

List of publications

Main series

  • Footrot Flats 1-27
  • The Footrot Flats 'Weekender' 1-8
  • The Puppydog Footrot Flats 1-21

Pocket books

  • "They've put custard with my bone!"
  • The cry of the grey ghost
  • "I'm warning you, Horse..."
  • It's a dog's life
  • "Let slip the dogs of war!"

Combined collections

  • Footrot Flats Collector's Edition
  • Footrot Flats Collector's Edition 2
  • Footrot Flats Collector's Edition 3
  • Footrot Flats Gallery 1-?
  • Footrot Flats Sports Collection

Misc

  • The Mini Footrot Flats
  • Footrot Flats Japanese Edition (Released in 1986)
  • Footrot Flats Calendar 1983-1992, 1997-2000
  • The Footrot Flats 'Weekender' Special
  • Footrot Flats Sports Calendar: 1987-1992.
  • The Ballad of Footrot Flats
  • Footrot Flats - The Movie "The Dog's Tale" (VHS, DVD)
  • Footrot Flats - The Stage Musical (1984)

Several calendars and miscellaneous merchandise were also released.

It is worth noting that the first two editions of Footrot Flats had no number... they were simply titled 'Footrot Flats'. Both were re-released in 1980 as 'Footrot Flats One' and 'Footrot Flats Two'.

The 'Puppydog' dog versions of the original strips were simply physically smaller and reduced in length; they presumably sold for a lower price.

See also

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