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Story: Humour

Footrot Flats

Perhaps the most popular cartoon series in New Zealand history, Footrot Flats has been syndicated internationally. The strip was first produced in 1976 by Murray Ball, who had earlier worked for the British humour magazine Punch. Footrot Flats is a rural comedy of errors in the tradition of Me and Gus and Fred Dagg. It provided the inspiration for a stage musical, a 1986 feature film and a theme park in Te Atatū, Auckland.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: J-045-004

by Murray Ball

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Caroline Harker, Humour – Humour on screen, 1970–2000, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/37539/footrot-flats (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Caroline Harker, published 27 March 2012.