Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale

1987
7| 1h11m| PG| en
Details

Featuring the characters from Murray Ball's "Footrot Flats" (New Zealands most beloved local cartoon strip), questions to be answered include: Will Wal Footrot win the affections of Cheeky Hobson over the sleazy Spit Murphy? Will the Dog win the affections of the lovely Jess? Will Wal make a good impression on the selectors at Saturday's rugby match? Can Rangi and Pongo save Cooch's prize stag from the depths of Blackwater Station, home of the Murphys, their vicious dogs and deadly croco-pigs? All this and more will be answered as the small town of Raupo comes to life on the big screen.

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Also starring Fiona Samuel

Reviews

Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place
Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
ChampDavSlim The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.
Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
peter-hallinan-874-731934 Vale Murray Ball - and thank you TV3 for screening this homage to a bygone era.Yes it's dated, sexist, homophobic and probably racist to boot, but there's still something quintessentially endearingly cheerful about this snapshot in time of a bygone age.Our heroes face Homerically impossible odds against the evil forces of the Murphys, rats, wild pigs, the weather and anything else you can think of - but time after time they snatch victory from the jaws of defeat - this is the kind of spirit that led to the invention of Number 8 fencing wire, this is New Zealand...
bilby351 I am quite happy with the way Murray Ball has put together such a great movie. I am a girl I know but I love football... The soundtrack to go with the movie just made the movie so much better. I do agree with the annoying helicopter noise and not enough of the song Slice of Heaven. But have bought it and is in a special collection. Congratulations to all cast and crew for a great job.... A movie that will never die for me... I watched the making of the movie and it was the best part of the DVD. Seeing the characters are really based on actual people. They have made the details so accurate it is unbelievable. Don't judge the movie until you watch the making of the Footrot Flats. Considering how old the movie is, it is still so popular. Wal was my best character as he reminds me so much of an average every day guy, but he is still so romantic. My other favorite character is dog. The biggest sook but still a mans best friend. I hope everyone enjoys the movie as much a I did.
Hereafter Beautifully drawn but Clunky, economical animation and an abysmal home made soundtrack, Its most damming mistake was to almost completely ignore the subtle and endearing humor of the original comic strip. The story was at its best when it was more true to its origins. There was just way to much noise,action, fight and chase sequences. Not to mention the most annoying helicopter ever animated. Another sore note is the under use of Dave Dobins "Slice of heaven". A missed opportunity considering what a great song it is.In context and at the time it was released it was popular and its seemed New Zealand was saying to the rest of the world, "watch this space" 3/10
springroll This film was indeed a big hit when it came out in the mid-80s. I watched it again recently for the first time since seeing it on the big screen, and was suprised at how different my perception was of it as an adult rather than a kid. As a kid I don't remember the awful synth music being quite so awful, yet of course this can be put down to the decade which spawned it. The voice of the dog was also far too weak and naieve, and was the script, I didn't feel that it captured the dog's character as I imagined it having grown up reading the Footrot Flats cartoons. Aside from the script and soundtrack though, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie again. The backgrounds are great and really capture the dark gritty feel of rural New Zealand. The animation is good and the rugby scenes are funny and really capture the end of an era - farmers dreaming of being All Blacks, not for money but for glory. The days before the All Blacks donned Adidas shirts. I think that if the soundtrack was re-recorded and some of the script changed this A Dog's Tail could be re-released and make a comeback in the theatres. However as a slice of 80s it is a pristine example as it is.