Official remastered trailer release for Footrot Flats: The Dogs' Tale (4K)

Forty years after Dog, Wal and the gang first hit the big screen, one of New Zealand's most beloved films is heading back to cinemas. A new trailer for the remastered 4K version of Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale dropped today, ahead of a 40th-anniversary theatrical re-release in cinemas nationwide from 28 January 2027.

More than 700,000 New Zealanders saw the film in cinemas on its original release in 1986, making it the country's most successful film at the time.

New Zealand's first animated feature film, Footrot Flats: The Dog’s Tale brought Murray Ball's iconic comic strip to life, following Wal Footrot and his faithful border collie Dog through life, love and trouble on the farm. Four decades on, the film remains unmistakably Kiwi - from Dog's eternal pursuit of Jess and Wal's romance with Cheeky Hobson, to Cooch, Rangi and the fearsome Murphys from across the river.

Directed by Murray Ball, produced by John Barnett and Pat Cox, and written by Ball with Tom Scott, Footrot Flats: The Dog’s Tale features the voices of some of New Zealand's best-loved performers, including John Clarke as Wal Footrot, Peter Rowley as Dog, Rawiri Paratene as Rangi, Fiona Samuel as Cheeky Hobson and Billy T. James as Pawai.

The remastered 4K version had a hugely successful run at the 2026 New Zealand International Film Festival. It now returns to cinemas nationwide, giving those who grew up with Dog and the gang the chance to see a New Zealand classic on the big screen again - and a new generation of Kiwi kids the chance to discover it for the first time.

FOOTROT FLATS is coming to NZ cinemas nationwide only in January 2027. Tickets on sale soon.