- Cartoonist
- Painter
- Illustrator
About Kool Roo
The KOOLROO"cartoon strip is an iconic part of Australian cartooning history.
FROM the AUTHOR – Peter Dare
From my early days of drawing and working in illustration I had always played around creating cartoon characters with an Australian feel.
At the time I just couldn’t understand why our most iconic animal, the kangaroo, which basically to the world represents “Australia” had never had a cartoon character developed that the average Aussie could relate to.
Sure, there was Dot the kangaroo and others targeting very young children in a motherly way, but there was never a character with personality and a bit of the Aussie larrikin dry humour, which is pretty much a part of our way of life.
That light hearted banter and sarcasm between friends that becomes more natural and accepted the closer the friendship is.
To an outsider the dry humour could appear cutting but in retrospect is usually an indication of how close and loyal the friendship is.
As history has shown us with the ANZACS there is nothing stronger than the bond of friendship of an Aussie who will die for his mates.
The KOOLROO Strip
The KoolRoo strip revolves mainly around the life, times, experiences, opinions and interactions of one very unique and stylish kangaroo character
named “Kool Roo”.
As the name suggests he appears smooth and stylish wearing sunglasses but things didn’t always work out that way.
The strip appeared in most major Daily and Sunday newspapers around the country from 1983 – 2004.
KOOLROO cartoon strip appeared in:
– Sydney Daily Telegraph
– Sydney Sunday Telegraph
– Melbourne Herald (Sunday)
– Brisbane Daily Sun
– Brisbane Sunday Sun
– Perth Sunday Times
– Northern Territory News
* As well as numerous publications Internationally
The Main Characters
KoolRoo is Australia’s first
"BLU the red kangaroo"
Avery ambitious roo who learns much about life as KoolRoo’s sidekick
"AL KOALA"
Not the most energetic fellow in the world, Al is a very lazy koala who spends just as much time thinking about relaxing as doing it.
"LIZARD"
LIZARD is a crossbreed “Goanna” and “Blue tongue”.
Quite an exotic mixture. He may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but he has unending determination and a willingness to have a go at anything.
KOOLROO cartoon strip appeared in:
– Sydney Daily Telegraph
– Sydney Sunday Telegraph
– Melbourne Herald (Sunday)
– Brisbane Daily Sun
– Brisbane Sunday Sun
– Perth Sunday Times
– Northern Territory News
* As well as numerous publications Internationally
Other Characters
A host of other characters have been introduced over the years. All giving us their own perspective of life and the world as they see it. Each character has their own set of values like the goldfish that dreams of travelling, birds that don’t like the bats living next door, or a skull that hates droughts.
Other Characters have been:
flies, a Jeanie, ants, cockatoos, frogs, elephants, cats, dogs, a gold fish , sharks, fish, wishing well, rabbits, flowers, skulls , birds , a snowman , cows , horses , rabbits and many more.
Here are some …
