Murray Ball, creator of Footrot Flats cartoon about a farm dog called ‘Dog’, dies aged 78
Murray Ball and Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz had a mutual admiration of each other’s work
Murray Ball, the creator of the widely read Footrot Flats cartoon that celebrated rural life in New Zealand, has died at the age of 78.
Radio New Zealand reported that he died at the age of 78 at home on Sunday morning, surrounded by family. He had been suffering from Alzheimer’s for the last eight years.
Ball was survived by his wife of 53 years, Pam, and their three children. The couple had lived in Gisborne, in the Hawke’s Bay region of the North Island, for more than 40 years.
His immensely popular Footrot Flats strip, starring farmer Wal Footrot and his sheepdog Dog, ran in newspapers in New Zealand, Australia, UK and Scandinavia from 1975 to 1994.
The peak of its popularity coincided with the 1986 release of New Zealand’s first feature-length animated film, Footrot Flats: The Dog’s Tale, which Ball directed.
It featured music by the New Zealand musician Dave Dobbyn, its soundtrack spawning two hit singles in New Zealand and Australia: You Oughta Be in Love and Slice of Heaven.
A separate Footrot Flats musical was first devised in 1983 and continues to be staged in New Zealand today.