Footrot Flats was a comic strip written by New Zealand cartoonist Murray Ball. The cartoon was based around the life of Wal Footrot's Border Collie called "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". The main character of the book, a Border Collie, thinks of himself as tough, but he 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. He is often put to use to guard things or asked to get rid of rats or pigs - which he fails to do. However, he is a competent sheepdog all the same. The cartoon ran from 1975 until 1994 in newspapers around the world, though the unpublished strips continued to be released in book form until 2000.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, a further 8 books collecting the Sunday newspaper strips, 5 smaller 'pocket' books and 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.
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