The Dominion Post
24 November 2009
Wal and Dog will be immortalised on Gisborne's streets in a plan to go before the council tomorrow.
Mayor Meng Foon came up with the idea of erecting full-sized bronze statues of the Footrot Flats characters around the city's streets, parks and beaches.
Cartoonist Murray Ball created the famous Footrot Flats characters of Wal and Dog in 1975 in Gisborne. He and wife Pam have lived in the district for 35 years.
The comic strip ran until 1994 in newspapers around the world. The cartoon was based on the life of Wal Footrot's sheepdog Dog on their farm Footrot Flats, and the other humans and animals that came into their lives.
Mr Foon met the Balls last month and put his idea to them. They indicated they were interested and Mr Foon's proposal will go before council tomorrow.
He said the proposal could lead to Footrot Flats-themed events and merchandise.
The statues will cost several hundred thousand dollars to make and erect over several years. If approved, the earliest they could start appearing on the streets was late next year, Mr Foon said.
The number of bronze statues and costs would need to be discussed, but he believes there would be minimal cost to ratepayers as funds could be gained through charitable grants and trusts.
"I think it's a marvellous idea," Mr Foon told The Dominion Post yesterday. "I was thinking about what made our region special and I thought of Murray Ball.
"He's published worldwide and Footrot Flats is very well known and very visible. It's very complementary to our region with its rural, farming, horticultural and small-town scene," Mr Foon said.
Statues could include "a flock of sheep with Dog sticking his head out, Wal fishing in a river, it could be a horse with Dog sitting on top of it", Mr Foon said.
The concept would create income for the region and he believed the idea would find favour with councillors and ratepayers.
Mr Ball, 70, said the proposal "was still in the airy-fairy stages, but it would be good if it came off".
"I hope people like the idea. I do wonder how well known the characters are. It is a cartoon. It doesn't last forever," Mr Ball said.
He stopped drawing Footrot Flats cartoons in 1994.
FOOTROT FLATS
* The Footrot Flats cartoon ran from 1975–1994 in newspapers around the world.
* There were more than 40 books of Footrot Flats cartoons published.
* The cartoon was the subject of a stage musical and the animated film Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale.
* The cartoon is based on the life of Wal Footrot's border collie named Dog, on their farm, Footrot Flats. Other characters include Socrates "Cooch" Windgrass, Darlene "Cheeky" Hobson, and Dolores Monrovia Godwit "Aunt Dolly" Footrot.
* Murray Ball became an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002.
* His other cartoons include Stanley the Paleolithic Hero (the longest-running cartoon in Punch magazine), Bruce the Barbarian, and All the King's Comrades.
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