The New Zealand Cartoon Archive (now the New Zealand Cartoon and Comics Archive) was launched at a function at the National Library in Wellington by Prime Minister Jim Bolger, then a favourite subject for New Zealand cartoonists. The archive was a partnership between the New Zealand Cartoon Archive Trust, which raised funds and publicised the collection, and the Alexander Turnbull Library, which housed and organised the collection.
Ian F. Grant, the moving force behind the creation of the archive, visited cartoon museums in the United States and United Kingdom while developing the concept for the archive, which employed Susan Foster as its first curator. Its first touring exhibition, A Bit of Cheek, showed the many sides of former Prime Minister Rob Muldoon, whose distinctive appearance was a gift to cartoonists.
In 2005, the Cartoon Archive was absorbed into the Turnbull Library, with the trust replaced by a Guardians committee. On 17 July 2019 the Guardians announced that they were stepping down after championing and supporting the work of the archive for many years. The collection now contains more than 60,000 cartoons and continues to grow steadily.