Footrot Flats
Encyclopedia
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
written by New Zealand cartoonist Murray Ball
Murray Ball
Murray Hone Ball ONZM , a New Zealand-born cartoonist, has become known for his Stanley the Palaeolithic Hero , Bruce the Barbarian, All the King's Comrades and the long-running Footrot Flats comic series...
. It ran from 1975 until 1994 in newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s around the world, though the unpublished strips continued to be released in book form until 2000.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
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
feature film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
called Footrot Flats: the Dog's
Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale
Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale is a 1986 New Zealand animated film, based on cartoonist Murray Ball's popular comic strip, Footrot Flats. It was New Zealand's first feature-length animated film.-Plot:Wal Footrot and Cooch Windgrass are shearing sheep on Wal's farm...
, and even a theme park in New Zealand. The strip reached its peak of popularity in the mid-1980s, with the books selling millions of copies in Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
. 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 sheepdog
Herding dog
A herding dog, also known as a stock dog or working dog, is a type of pastoral dog that either has been trained in herding or belongs to breeds developed for herding...
, called "Dog", on their farm Footrot Flats, and the other characters, human and animal, that came into their lives. The Dog's thoughts are voiced in thought bubbles, though he is clearly "just a dog" rather than the heavily anthropomorphised creatures sometimes found in other comics or animation. The humour was based around the foibles of the characters, which many, particularly farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
s 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
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
superimposed without spoiling the farming realism.
Main characters
Border Collie
The Border Collie is a herding dog breed developed in the Anglo-Scottish border region for herding livestock, especially sheep. It is the most widespread of the collie breeds....
, thinks of himself as intelligent and tough, but is really quite soft and often cowardly. He has a real name, given to him by Aunt Dolly, but despises it and has never allowed anyone to reveal it. Aunt Dolly says it is a "such a refined, arisocratic name", which gives some clue as to why Dog despises it. Wal always calls him "Dog", gaining loyal devotion. The Dog is often put to use to guard things or get rid of rats
RATS
RATS may refer to:* RATS , Regression Analysis of Time Series, a statistical package* Rough Auditing Tool for Security, a computer program...
or pigs
PIGS
PIGS is a four letter acronym that can stand for:* PIGS , Phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor biosynthesis, class S, a human gene* PIGS , the economies of Portugal, Italy , Greece and Spain...
, but Border Collies have an independent streak and the Dog's is a mile wide. However, also like others of his breed he is a competent sheepdog
Herding dog
A herding dog, also known as a stock dog or working dog, is a type of pastoral dog that either has been trained in herding or belongs to breeds developed for herding...
. He also has a couple of alter egos; "The Scarlet Manuka
Manuka
Manuka can refer to:*The flowering plant Leptospermum scoparium *Manuka, Canberra, an area in the Australian Capital Territory, named after the plant*Manuka Oval, a stadium in the above territory...
" who attempts to 'liberate' cricket balls from being hit by Wal and his team, "Mitey Iron Paw", and "the Grey Ghost of The Forest", that appear from time to time. The inspiration 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).
Wallace Cadwallader "Wal" Footrot : Wallace Footrot was born on the 26th of January in Northern Manawatu. He was educated at Apiti Primary School and later Foxton Agricultural High, where he excelled at tractor reversing and rooster imitations. Wallace established an outstanding relationship with muscovy ducks
Muscovy Duck
The Muscovy Duck is a large duck which is native to Mexico and Central and South America. A small wild population reaches into the United States in the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas...
, but unfortunately failed completely with geese. Indeed he seemed to have an uncanny knack of irritating them. Wallace took a full part in all school activities. He displayed a promising right cross during his time in the front row of the 2nd XV, but was unable to transfer this ability to the boxing ring. He rather let the side down during the inter-school championships by throwing in the sponge, which knocked the referee's glasses crooked. He was disqualified. On leaving school, he acquired 400 acres (161.9 ha) of swamp between the Ureweras and the sea. He is unmarried, although he has an interest in Darlene "Cheeky" Hobson, who works in the Ladies Hairdressers at Raupo.
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
Australian Magpie
The Australian Magpie is a medium-sized black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. A member of the Artamidae, it is closely related to the butcherbirds...
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
Clydesdale (breed)
The Clydesdale is a breed of draught horse derived from the farm horses of Clydesdale, Scotland, and named after that region. Although originally one of the smaller breeds of draught horses, it is now a tall breed. Often bay in colour, they show significant white markings due to the presence of...
. He is Wal's best friend. Murray Ball describes Cooch as 'eccentric, NOT an idiot!', having based the character on two people he knows.
Darlene "Cheeky" Hobson : Wal's 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. He first encountered The Dog to use his skin as a fur coat. 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 (by marriage). She was born in Cambridge Waikato and was the second daughter of Edward George Bogg and Fiona Godwit Symington. She was educated at Lady Hinema Sacks-Grenville School for Young Ladies and was a prefect, captain of hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
, lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
, and boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. Her first cat was Archibald II and she owns a cat home (where Dog was born) in Tauranga
Tauranga
Tauranga is the most populous city in the Bay of Plenty region, in the North Island of New Zealand.It was settled by Europeans in the early 19th century and was constituted as a city in 1963...
. She is very conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
, always addresses people by their full and proper names, and she 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. It is revealed in Footrot Flats Gallery 3 that she was once married to Archi "Toey" Footrot, a barber. Unfortunately he ran off to Australia with "A dumb but decorative darts stall owner with masses of black hair."
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. Later the irascible tomcat Horse became Dog's main nemesis (and sometimes ally).
Prince Charles: A VERY spoilt Welsh Corgi
Welsh Corgi
The Welsh corgi is a small type of herding dog that originated in Wales. Two distinct breeds are recognized: the Pembroke Welsh corgi and the Cardigan Welsh corgi, with the Pembroke being the more common..-Description:...
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. However, Aunt Dolly never uses the nicknames and always addresses them by their proper, full names.
Minor characters
Rex : Wal's younger brother who lives in town and is a potter. Rex is better than Wal at sports and they often compete with Wal coming out for the worst. He also owns Boobsie, The Dog's mum.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
Australian Magpie
The Australian Magpie is a medium-sized black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. A member of the Artamidae, it is closely related to the butcherbirds...
. Orphaned when Wal cut down his parents' tree; socially confused and always seeking revenge on Wal. Wal gave Pew to Cooch as a birthday present - the first time Wal ever remembered it - to get rid of him, but Pew's revenge continues. Cooch became a surrogate mother for Pew, coaching him in the way of birds as best he can.
Jess : Cooch's dog as well as the Dog's girlfriend and co-parent. She mainly lives in the "Bitches Box" and has had several litters of puppies with the Dog. The Dog's
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, a brutish man who does not welcome visitors and shoots any dog that strays onto his property, or mercifully hang them by their heels on the fence. Once he did this to Prince Charles and lived to regret it when Aunt Dolly found out. Always appears filthy ("health warning: do not approach this man downwind"), probably due to farming numerous pigs, who cause Wal plenty of grief. Has two loutish sons; Hunk and Spit. There is also Lex Murphy, who is known 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
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
.
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 "The Buffalo" : 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.
The Goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
: 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. Wal bought him to keep the grass down, but The Goat is a pest, eating trousers and chasing the Dog and Wal. At one point Wal tried to get rid of it by selling it, but when he couldn't he decided to kill it. He couldn't do it exclaiming "dammit, I know this goat!". Didn't have many appearances at first, but soon became more popular in the strip.
Cooch's goats : A cunning pack of goats that use gang tactics to annoy Wal. For example if he plants trees behind a fence, Cooch's goats will stand on each other to get over and eat them. The dog often has to muster Cooch's goats and hates doing so.
Wal's unruly goose : Another classic character would be Wal's goose, who occasionally stalks Wal and bites Wal's backside all the time. In the film "The Dog's Tale
Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale
Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale is a 1986 New Zealand animated film, based on cartoonist Murray Ball's popular comic strip, Footrot Flats. It was New Zealand's first feature-length animated film.-Plot:Wal Footrot and Cooch Windgrass are shearing sheep on Wal's farm...
", the goose is seen now and then, making an attempt to bite Wal in the farm and finally gets his chance when Wal rescues Murphy from a river.
Other hostile animals : In the early strip, the Dog's main tormentors were the Turkey, Goat, and Pigs (Boris and Dolores). 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.
Sport
Sport plays a major part in Footrot Flats. Wal plays all sorts of sports including cricketCricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
and many more. The dog often plays with Wal and an ongoing joke in the strip is how Wal can never beat his little brother Rex in any sport.
Wal plays for the Raupo rugby club as a hooker and is often seen playing and training in the strip. At one point Wal was replaced by a younger man as he was getting too old, but the younger player wasn't as good. The final few strips ever drawn involve an unlikely chain of events which culminate in Wal somehow scoring a try against a touring international rugby side.
In the cricket season Wal plays for an unknown team as an all-rounder, although he is sometimes pictured as the wicket keeper. Cooch often plays cricket with Wal and so does the dog, usually fielding in the slips or in the covers.
Cooch also plays golf with Wal who has a homemade course on his farm. Cooch is better than Wal at golf, even though the course is very hard (the first hole is a par 14). When they do play on a real course Cooch usually wins. Wal claims that the trees are on Cooch's side.
Wal also occasionally plays tennis with Cheeky Hobson and fights for her affections with Nigel Erkstine, another member of the tennis club. The dog is usually the ball boy.
Wal and Cooch frequently fish in various ways: whitebaiting, long line fishing, and most often floundering.
Other sports that get mentioned in Footrot Flats are boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
, soccer, squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
, and shooting
Shooting
Shooting is the act or process of firing rifles, shotguns or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman...
.
List of publications
Main series- Footrot Flats 1-27 (1978-99)
- The Footrot Flats 'Weekender' 1-8 (1985-98)
- The Puppydog Footrot Flats 1-21 (1995)
Pocket books
- "They've put custard with my bone!" (1983)
- The cry of the grey ghost (1984)
- "I'm warning you, Horse..." (1985)
- It's a dog's life (1988)
- "Let slip the dogs of war!" (1992)
- Footrot Flats Pocket Book Collection (1995)
Combined collections
- Footrot Flats: The Making of the Movie (1986)
- Footrot Flats: The Dog's
TailTale (1986) - Footrot Flats Collector's Edition (1987)
- Footrot Flats Collector's Edition 2 (1989)
- Footrot Flats Collector's Edition 3 (1993)
- The Footrot Flats 'Weekender' Special (1994)
- Footrot Flats Gallery 1-3 (2005-06)
- Footrot Flats Sports Collection (2005)
- Footrot Flats: The Wisdom of Dog (27/9/2010)
- The Art of Footrot Flats (25/10/2011)
Murray Ball Collector's Trilogy
- Footrot Flats: The Dog Strips (2007)
- Footrot Flats: The Long Weekender (2008)
- Six of the Best by Murray Ball (2009)
Misc
- Footrot Flats German Edition (1980s?)
- Footrot Flats Collector’s Edition Box Set (1982, NZ-Only Release)
- The Mini Footrot Flats (1984)
- Footrot Flats - The Stage Musical (1984)
- Footrot Flats the Motion Picture: Prospectus (1985)
- Footrot Flats School Kit (Released in 1986)
- Footrot Flats Japanese Edition (Released in 1986)
- Footrot Flats in Focus - A 1990 Perspective (1989)
- Footrot Flats Chinese Edition (Released in 1990)
- Footrot Flats USA Edition (Released in 1992) (With Foreword by Charles M. Schulz)
- Footrot Flats Calendar: 1983-1992, 1997-2000
- Footrot Flats Astrological Calendar: 1987
- Footrot Flats Sports Calendar: 1987-1992
- Footrot Flats Zodiac Calendars: 1989
- The Ballad of Footrot Flats (1996)
- Footrot Flats - "The Dog's
TailTale" (VHS, DVD) - Footrot Flats - "The Dog's
TailTale" (Re-release) (DVD/Blu-ray) (1/12/11)
Miscellaneous merchandise like activity packs, posters, pencil cases, ceramics, soap figurines and colouring books were also released.
See also
- New Zealand humourNew Zealand humourNew Zealand humour bears some similarities to the body of humour of many other English-speaking countries. There are, however, several regional differences.- The New Zealand experience :...
- Footrot Flats: The Dog's TaleFootrot Flats: The Dog's TaleFootrot Flats: The Dog's Tale is a 1986 New Zealand animated film, based on cartoonist Murray Ball's popular comic strip, Footrot Flats. It was New Zealand's first feature-length animated film.-Plot:Wal Footrot and Cooch Windgrass are shearing sheep on Wal's farm...
(1986 film) - Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale (soundtrack)Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale (soundtrack)Footrot Flats: The Dogs Tail Tale is the soundtrack to the New Zealand film, Footrot Flats: The Dogs Tail Tale.-Track listing:*Original Release#Footrot Mornin#Let's Get Canine featuring Betty-Anne Monga & Ardijah...
External links
- The Black Sheep's Footrot Flats page, a fan-site (site is no longer available)
- JohnOfE.com's Footrot Flats page, a fan-site
- The Dog's
unofishuneffinot official website - The movie at the New Zealand Film CommissionNew Zealand Film CommissionThe New Zealand Film Commission is a New Zealand government agency formed to assist with creating and promoting New Zealand films...
website - Cartoonists Inc. Documentary, see also (PDF, 0.7 MB)