Talk:Footrot Flats

Toughest character

Always a constant discussion point in our school of who was the toughest character. I always went for my favourite, Horse. Only real competition was Major. They had a fight once but can't remember the outcome. One guy had a good idea... Pew! Possibly right techically. I think I remember him swooping down and plucking Horse's whiskers occasionally. Just as bloody minded as eachother.

Hey, how about Irish's "pigs" (more like boars)? They killed and ate a fair-sized shark without working up a sweat. Though they're not a single character, they sure as hell were tough. --Deathphoenix 12:31, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

As I recall, in one book (#5?) the intro pages set the stage for a showdown between Horse and Major. Who was going to win? Then on the last page they both simply beat up the Dog. I got the impression that, like Dog's name, Murray Ball never wants us to know who's the toughest on the farm. --Jquarry 00:57, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

This page could use some touching up ... there are examples of obviously opinionative conclusions; i.e the dog loves cousin kathy because of "her good cooking" ... I'll do some minor edits now. Oh and horse wins by far. 211.28.188.176 09:16, 9 February 2006 (UTC)

Just commenting on the above note (now 11 years old), there is nothing "opinionative" (not even a real word) or opinionated about the Dog loving cousin Kathy because of her cooking. The Dog states, in the prefatory pages of Footrot Flats 13 that he is fond of her cooking (pikelets) and for letting him inside the house. SiberianCat (talk) 06:40, 1 August 2017 (UTC)

The dog's name

I thought the dogs secret name was "diddums". can anyone confirm?

The dog's name was never revealed. You can think of it as any name you like; you have as much chance of being right as anyone else.-gadfium 08:13, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

I thought that the dog's name was Diogenes. After all, he's a philosopher, a bit of a cynic, and lives in a water tank. Diogenes was a philosopher who founded the Cynics and lived in a barrel. And the copyright of the strips is "Diogenes Designs", which was a big clue. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.77.23.173 (talk) 18:24, August 24, 2007 (UTC)

I think you may be on to something. In Footrot Flats 6, Aunt Dolly writes an introduction and states "Then I gave him (the Dog) a name - And it was quite weird actually - Suddenly our relationship changed. In fact, were in not such a refined, aristocratic name I might almost believe he did not like it.' Even on the wikipedia page it mentions that Diogenes was likened to a dog. Viskadaik (talk) 09:35, 8 October 2010 (UTC)

The dog's name is Raupo, from the 12th book. Eggs! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.93.209.150 (talk) 07:04, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

The dogs name is actually Raupo it says in the 12th book

The dog's name is "dog", as given to him by Wal. Also known as "The Scarlet Manuka", "Mitey Iron Paw" and "the Grey Ghost of The Forest". He is very sensitive about the name given to him by Aunt Dolly and it shall never be spoken or written. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.159.110.166 (talk) 10:27, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

Mary Sue?

What's the Mary Sue touch about the dog and what's the basis for this? So far as I've seen the Dog tends to get roughed up, pushed around, and treated like any other member of the strip - worse than many, in fact. So how the hell does that make it a Mary Sue? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.93.184.1 (talk) 09:22, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Theme Park

Does anyone here know much about the theme park? I remember visiting it in Auckland when I was 5 or 6. I remember it having a carousel, a small steel roller coaster, a motorbikes flat ride, a pool, and a gondola ride. If anyone has more information, I would like to try and write an article about it. --WillMcC 16:22, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

You remember as much as I do, although I was considerably older when I visited it. It was on the Te Atatu Peninsula. I've been told that there's very little information about it available online (not surprisingly, since it predated the internet). I imagine a good starting point would be to talk to (or email) librarians at the closest public library to Te Atatu to see if there are local histories which might mention it.-gadfium 19:09, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

There's some video footage at youtube.-gadfium 20:46, 22 July 2013 (UTC)

Cheeky

Is it really accurate to call Cheeky Wal's "On again off again girlfriend"? To my recollection the only time they actually broke up/stopped seeing each other was right at the end (as detailed here when she goes off with the stripper) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.189.213.149 (talk) 19:41, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

I've removed the description.-gadfium 00:15, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Wal's maiden aunt... she was once married to Archi "Toey" Footrot, a barber.

You can't have it both ways—especially when she's only Wal's aunt by marriage! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Koro Neil (talk • contribs) 14:08, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Wal seemed rather interested in Cooch's cousin Cathy, so the description seems fitting. I don't think I believe that she ran off with a stripper. It doesn't seem to fit, though I haven't read to there. Viskadaik (talk) 09:37, 8 October 2010 (UTC)