1939
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Murray Ball is born
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Murray Ball was born in Fielding, New Zealand. January 26th 1939 to Meg and Kelly Ball.
1945
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The Boy
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Young Murray had a VERY vivid imagination.
1947
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Murray's early years
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The Ball family moved to Australia.
1948
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South Africa
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The Balls settled first in Durban, then in Johannesburg, South Africa.
1951
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"I want to be a cartoonist!"
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Murray wins first prize in a cartoon competition. This turned out to be quite a defining moment.
1957
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Murray's first 'real' job
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Murray returned to NZ and writes weather reports for the Manawatu Times.
1959
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Dreams of being an All Black
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Murray played 2nd five-eighth for the Junior All Blacks.
1959
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The Lions
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Murray gained a taste for International rugby while playing against the Lions.
1960
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Trials for the All Blacks
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Murray trialed unsuccessfully for the All Blacks.
1960
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Murray returns to South Africa
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Murray returned to Durban to help with his father’s amusement arcade business.
1961
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First attempt to get published
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Murray traveled with his brother Barry by boat to England. He writes and submits his first illustrated story, about a mouse, which promptly disappears without trace.
1962
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Wellington
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Murray returned to Wellington, NZ and found work at 'The Dominion' as a staff cartoonist.
1963
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Finds love
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Murray returned to South Africa to see his family and meets Pam, a young English-woman to whom he soon becomes engaged.
1964
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Marriage
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Murrary married Pam at All Saints Church in Sanderstead, England, before honey-mooning in Paris with her (and his dad).
1964
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Drawing Cartoons
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Murray & Pam moved back to Wellington and Murray earns four guineas a week drawing cartoons for 'The Truth'.
1965
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Back to School
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Murray studied education at Hamilton Teachers College.
1966
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Life as a teacher
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Began life as a teacher at the Mercury Bay Area School, Whitianga.
1967
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First book published
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Wrote and had published ’Fifteen Men on a Dead Man’s Chest’.
1968
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Return to England
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Returned with Pam and his two-year-old son to England where they bought a house near Dulverton, Somerset.
1968
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Second book published
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‘The Peoplemakers’ was written and published while Murray helped out on his family farm at ‘Aratika’, near Fielding.
1969
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Life as a free-lance cartoonist
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Began free-lance cartooning as a career. He submitted cartoons to ‘Punch’ magazine as well as several ‘Girlie’ magazines.
1970
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Bruce the Barbarian
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‘Bruce the Barbarian' was launched in the ‘British Labour Weekly’.
1970
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Stanley
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‘Stanley’, a strip about a Paleolithic caveman, was accepted by 'Punch' Magazine.
1970
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Top British Comic Books
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Murray illustrated children's comics for Fleetway and Thomson's of Dundee. He ghosted 'Billy Bunter' and 'Desperate Dan' and created several characters of his own like Thor Thumb, a small boy Viking with a magic hammer.
1974
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Home
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Murray returned with Pam and three kids to NZ. They had enough saved to buy a small house and 4 acres on the outskirts of Gisborne.
1974
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Stanley in NZ
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Stanley is accepted by ‘The Listener’. Murray's new (Australian) agent, Sol Shifrin, secures syndication for Stanley in the U.S.
1975
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Let there be Manny
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Let there be Manny is a short series set in the book of Genesis and remains unpublished.
1975
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The Doctor
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The Doctor appeared in a later compilation book of Murray's cartoons called Six of the Best.
1975
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The Kids
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Murray began working on several new strips. The Kids appeared in the New Zealand Listener.
1976
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Footrot Flats
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FOOTROT FLATS is accepted by;
- The Evening Post
- The Waikato Times
- The Christchurch Press
... and as time goes on by numerous other newspapers in New Zealand and Australia.
1977
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Footrot Flats First Published
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The first Footrot Flats book is published.
1978
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Weekender Strips
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Murray begins his ‘Weekender Strips’, which, with two layers, allowed a bit more space for the characters to develop.
1979
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All Blacks Mascot
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The Footrot Dog was selected as mascot for the All Blacks rugby team and sat proudly on the sidelines for a couple of seasons.
1981
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Springbok Tour
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Murray protested against the South African rugby team’s tour of New Zealand.
1984
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Footrot Flats around the world
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Footrot Flats is translated into the Danish ‘Faehunden’. There are also translations of the strip made in German, Norwegian, Swedish, and Japanese.
1984
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The Musical
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Footrot Flats - The Stage Musical (Playwright - Roger Hall / Music – Philip Norman / Lyrics – A.K.Grant). It continues to be popular with amateur drama companies.
1985
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Murray and Tom put their heads together
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Two Feilding old boys, Murray Ball and Tom Scott begin work on a screenplay for New Zealand's first full length feature animated film.
1986
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Quentin Hankey
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One man's crusade for a Brave new World. Quentin Hankey goes into battle against the monarchy, imperialists, capitalist and political sycophants - and fails - miserably.
1986
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The Dog's Tale
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New Zealand's first animated film Footrot Flats, 'The Dogs Tale' was a smash hit in New Zealand and Australia. Murray's characters were brilliantly recreated and supported by a host of New Zealand's finest actors, comedians and musicians.
1986
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UN International Year of Peace
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Murray’s drawing of a NZ Fur seal pup was adopted by the UN for the International Year of Peace
1987
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Hole in One
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Murray sinks a hole in one. Very few people believe this.
1991
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The Crab
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A newly discovered genus and species of crustacean is named Flatsia walcoochorum after…Wal and Cooch.
1993
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The Sisterhood
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A controversial (to say the least) view of feminism and the breakdown of traditional family values.
1995
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The Pungapeople
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Murray illustrated Barry Crump’s childrens’ story, Mrs Windyflax and the Pungapeople.
1998
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Adam Budd
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The chronically shy Adam Budd desperately attempts to navigate the swirling waters of adolescence.
2000
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Travels with my wife
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Murray and Pam and his sketch book travel to Europe.
2000
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Unpublished
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Murray works on strips and scripts which remain unpublished.
- Old Dogs
- Slugs and Snails and Puppy-dogs tails
2001
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Tarzan, Gene Kelly and Me
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Tarzan, Gene Kelly and Me is a funny, irreverent look at the formative influences in Murray Ball's life.
2002
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Awarded Order of New Zealand Merit
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Murray received the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Cartooning
2002
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The Prophet
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The Prophet was deemed ‘too controversial’ to publish, but later appeared in the compilation ‘Six of the Best’.
2003
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Fred the (quite) Brave Mouse
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Fred and his unfeasibly long tail leave the warmth and comfort of home to explore the big wide world.
2004
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Willie Wants to Wee-wee
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Willie Wants to Wee-wee ... NOW!!!
2010
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Retirement
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Murray retires from both cartooning and public life. He lives, quietly, with Pam, and a black and white tom-cat named Jack.
2016
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Life-sized bronze sculptures of Wal’ and Dog
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Life-sized bronze sculptures of Wal’ and Dog were crafted by Wellington’s Weta workshop. They stand now beside the Taruheru River in the council gardens, in Gisborne.
2017
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Footrot Flats Website Launched
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Footrot Flats finds a new home online. A place for fans old and new to explore, interact and have a daily chuckle at the adventures of Wal, Dog and the rest of the gang.