Alfred J. Kwak

Alfred J. Kwak

Logo of Alfred J. Kwak
Created by Herman van Veen[1]
Country of origin Netherlands
Germany
Japan
Finland
Spain
No. of episodes 52[1]
Production
Producer(s) Telecable Benelux B.V.
Running time 25 minutes approx.
Release
Original network VARA (Netherlands)
TV Tokyo (Japan)
ZDF (Germany)
Original release 1989 – 1990
Website

Alfred J. Kwak (小さなアヒルの大きな愛の物語 あひるのクワック Chiisana Ahiru no Ōkina Ai no Monogatari: Ahiru no Kwak) is a cartoon television series based on a Dutch theatre show by Herman van Veen and was co-produced by VARA, Telecable Benelux B.V. and TV Tokyo and first shown in 1989.[2] It consists of 52 episodes. The series characters were designed by Harald Siepermann.[3] There are also toys and a comic based on the animated series.

The series has been broadcast in many countries and has been dubbed and subtitled in Dutch, French, Japanese, Greek, English, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, Hungarian, Finnish, Serbian, Polish, German, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic, Chinese, Czech, Korean and Norwegian.[4]

In 1991, Herman van Veen won the Goldene Kamera award for the cartoon.

Origins

When our children were still young, I wrote the first story on Alfred Jodocus Kwak. Mainly, this was caused by two things. One night I was on my way home and drove my car through the countryside, and accidentally ran over a duck. I regretted it a lot. A few days later I was at home on the telephone and saw a mother duck and seven little ducklings wobbling through our garden. The man I was talking to on the phone was the leader of a symphonic orchestra. He asked if I could write a fairytale and if I could come over and tell and sing about it, while the orchestra would provide musical accompaniment. While I was talking to the man I thought: "Could that mother duck be looking for her husband, and how do you explain to a duck that you ran over another duck?". "Hello?" the voice on the phone said."What do you think?" I said: "I'm thinking of a duck?" and the man said "Excellent, so you'll write us a fairytale about a duck". That's how Alfred was born. By accident.

Plot

Alfred J. Kwak was born as the son of Johan Sebastian and Anna Kwak. Some time after his birth, Alfred loses his parents and his brothers and sisters after a car hits them. Henk the mole, a good friend of the Kwak family, raises the little orphan duck. Alfred experiences a lot of adventures.

Unlike many other cartoons targeted for children, Alfred J. Kwak features exceptionally mature and often sad themes. Amongst others it deals with different social and political issues, such as abuse of power, but also raises important values such as friendship and solidarity.

The cartoon is also notable for the political themes on which it touches. In the cartoon, Alfred fights against a fascist dictator, takes in refugees fleeing from a country under Apartheid (with white geese and black ducks), saves whales against hunters, and oversees the changeover of his country from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy with a democratically elected president. Such themes are far from typical in a children's cartoon, and form a big part of Alfred J. Kwak's appeal. Other episodes have satirised the Japanese love of golf, and criticised countries which have sharp north/south economic divides.

The cartoon is also unusual for the subtlety of its long-term narrative. In most children's cartoons, the characters do not age. In Alfred J. Kwak, we see the progress of the main characters from very young children to adulthood as the series advances. This is particularly striking in the character of Dolf, who is initially a mere schoolboy, but who, as time passes, becomes a criminal and a dictator.

Setting

The time setting of the cartoon is somewhat surreal. On the whole the technology and dress of most characters seems appropriate to the late 20th century, and yet Alfred and Paljas/Boffin often travel in a spaceship with a technology far more advanced than that, while many characters such as the king's staff, Scratchpaws the cat, and Dolf in his Napoleonic incarnation wear clothes more appropriate to previous ages. Other surreal elements to the cartoon include such strange characters as the evil genie of the bottle, living chess pieces from Alfred's chess game, pied Piper style Clown On The Moon, and aliens who appear like ducks except for their human-style feet, and a "dream" style wild West episode during which Dolf seems to become aware that he is a character in a cartoon.

Characters

Main characters

Alfred

Alfred Jodocus Kwak is a duck. As a baby he lived in a giant clog with his family. After his family was run over by a car, he was adopted by Henk and lives with him in a clog-shaped house. He is very concerned with other people and values many virtues, like human rights and good manners. Friends, family and the environment, are also close to his heart and he in some episodes even risks his own safety when it comes to do the right thing. Although he has gone through a lot of sad things, his favourite song is 'Ik ben vandaag zo vrolijk' (I'm so happy today). In the English version, his middle name is changed to "Johnathan".

Dolf

Dolf is Alfred's archenemy and first appears in episode 4. In the first episode Dolf's parents, a crow and a blackbird, can be seen making disparaging comments on the eggs of Alfred's mother. Both are dressed in traditional German garments. The father wears lederhosen, a feathered hat and, in the Dutch original, speaks with a heavy German accent, while Dolf's mother is seen in a dirndl outfit.

Oh, they look repulsive. Waterfowl aren't real birds, like us. So in a way I can understand why they are so vile and disgusting.
Dolf's father, episode 1

Dolf gradually develops from a mere naughty schoolboy, to a merciless dictator, an arms dealer, a reckless politician, and overall criminal. Though the show clearly portrays Dolf's acts as inherently negative and wrong, it also provides the background on how Dolf became who he is. For example, when a child, Dolf is prone to blame others for problems in which he too played a role. Dolf mentions that his mother died very early and that his father neglects him due to alcoholism. Dolf can also be seen to express a sense of self hate and poor self image; as he is disgusted by the fact that he is only part crow, and paints his orange beak black to disguise his true identity. When Alfred accidentally finds out about this, he cannot understand why Dolf is so ashamed and urges him to drop the secret and tell others about it. Dolf however is petrified and convinced that his friends will make fun of him, and makes Alfred swear he will never tell anyone about it.

Don't you dare forget this evening, because neither will I. Goodnight gentlemen. [clicks his heels] DOLF IS RIGHTEOUS!
Dolf, episode 22

Episode 22 through 25 are essentially an allegory of the rise and fall of Fascism/Nazism, with Dolf himself, though wearing a Napoleonic uniform, as a clear caricature of Adolf Hitler. It begins with Dolf returning from abroad, in a train with Austrian markings, and meeting up with his friends. He then discusses the current political climate in Great Waterland, and expresses disgust of it. Dolf then decides to found a political party, the later National Crows Party, for which he goes to Alfred to lend money. He explains his ideas, but Alfred refuses and Dolf barges out of Alfred's house in a fit of rage. Alfred and Henk express their fear of Dolf, but Henk reassures Alfred that Dolf will never gather enough money to fund his intended party. Not much later however, Dolf inherits a huge fortune. He founds his party, which through promising employment and change, quickly becomes a major and powerful political movement. Dolf eventually stages a coup d'etat and takes over the country. Political opponents, including Alfred, are imprisoned on the charge of high treason. Alfred and his friends barely escape and flee abroad to the neighboring country of Great Reedland. Not much later the King of Great Waterland himself flees as well, and Dolf proclaims himself Emperor Dolf I. Alfred and the other political dissidents however devised a plan to dispose of Dolf and steal Dolf's inheritances from the vaults of his palace. Without his money, Dolf's power quickly dwindles and he is forced to flee.

Dolf eventually makes an appearance as an illegal arms dealer and general criminal in further episodes. In the 43rd and 44th episodes, the King has decided to abdicate and for the first time democratic elections are held. Dolf once again attempts to rule Great Waterland as one of the three official candidates. In order to get ahead of other two candidates (Ollie being the first candidate) He hires some foreigners to sabotage the dam, which protects the waterland from being flooded by the seawater. After the dam has broken Dolf cunningly withdraws his entry because he wants to *help* people and can not waste time to elections. Dolf then publicly funds the repairs of the dam, skyrocketing his popularity and prompting his reentry in the presidential race. He then, in an attempt to get rid of any compromising evidence, tries to kill Lispel, who saw the criminal act, but manages to escape and though heavily wounded, tells Alfred the truth on the flood.

Dolf manages to escape and continues his life of crime. In the final two episodes, Dolf becomes the henchman of an oil magnate who is attempting to get his hands on the blueprints of an environmentally friendly fuel, invented by Professor Buffon. After a fight, in which Dolf attempts to kill Alfred by pushing his car off the road, Dolf is again captured and is sentenced to be imprisoned for 26 years. This time however, he escapes, aided by a former member of his Crows Party, and takes Winnie, Alfred's girlfriend, hostage. In the series finale, and after a manic hunt, Alfred finds and tells Dolf of where Winnie is. After telling Alfred the whereabouts of her, it gave Dolf enough time to escape, only for him to be caught by the police and put into prison.

Henk

Henk is a mole and the adoptive father of Alfred. In the Israeli version he is called Hafi, a diminutive for "Hafarperet" - the Hebrew word for "mole".

Winnie

Winnie is a black duck and Alfred's girlfriend. In the Dutch version she speaks Afrikaans accented Dutch. Afrikaans being a language closely related to Dutch and spoken in South Africa. Alfred meets her and her family, in episode 27, on a train leaving for great waterland after his holidays. Her family are refugees who escaped from their home country after it has been taken over by white geese. After Alfred helps her parents to sort out the problems in her country, she joins Alfred on many of his adventures and holidays. She works in the local university as a secretary (as first seen in episode 34) and lives with her brother Tom in a little house near the forest.

Secondary characters

Setting

Great Waterland

Great Waterland (Groot-Waterland in Dutch) is arguably the most important setting within the series. It is Alfred's birthplace as well the home, or future home, of many of the shows characters. It is, partly, a caricature of the Netherlands. The land consists of polders, the town Alfred lives in is built in a typical Dutch style, while he himself lives in a house made from a clog. In addition; many of its inhabitants wear traditional Dutch clothing, perhaps most notably Alfred's parents. For most of the series Great Waterland is an absolute monarchy, led by Franz Ferdinand: a lion. Near the shows conclusion Dolf assumes command, and Waterland briefly becomes an authoritarian fascist state, before reverting to a monarchy and eventually becoming a constitutional monarchy with an elected president.

Episode list

Season 1

  1. Alfred Comes To Life
  2. Alfred's First Birthday
  3. The Ruby Of The Crown
  4. My Father Is Henk
  5. Dolf's Secret
  6. The Great Race
  7. Sea Scouts Part 1
  8. Sea Scouts Part 2
  9. The Strange Bottle
  10. Flying Carpet
  11. Alfred Joins The Circus
  12. Alfred's Chess Adventure
  13. The Queen Loses Her Crown
  14. Let's Find The Sawfish
  15. Alfred's Perilous Voyage
  16. The Search For The Whales
  17. Visitors From Outer Space
  18. The Southern Cross
  19. The Ocean Belong To All Of Us
  20. Desert Dream
  21. The King Takes A Loan
  22. Dolf Is Justice
  23. Escape From The Crow Party
  24. Emperor Dolf The First
  25. The Decline And Fall Of Emperor Dolf
  26. The Snowman

Season 2

  1. Love At First Sight
  2. A Gift From The King
  3. Journey To At
  4. A Turtle Island
  5. Drilling For Oil
  6. They Come To Atlantis
  7. Gunfight At Tombstone
  8. The Riddle Of The Pyramid
  9. The Labyrinth
  10. The Course Of True Love
  11. An Invitation From The Prince
  12. Love Unites
  13. Who Wants To Marry A Witch
  14. The Stolen Pan
  15. The Volcano Erupts
  16. Save The Dragon
  17. Vote For Ollie
  18. Dolf Takes A Chance
  19. The Strange Epidemic
  20. Clown On The Moon
  21. The Magic Fiddle
  22. How About A Game Of Golf
  23. Looking For The Rainbow
  24. Pot Of Gold
  25. Forests Of Fuel?
  26. Dolf's Last Stand

Theme songs and voice actors

Dutch version

Spetter Pieter Pater

Zo vrolijk

Alfred J. Kwak is one of the first cartoon series in the Netherlands to feature an (almost) all-star cast. Actress Ryan van den Akker is Alfred and Herman van Veen is Professor Paljas (an alternate phrase for fool, clown).

German version

Plätscher, Plitscher, Feder

Warum bin ich so fröhlich

Japanese version

Yakusoku da yo (約束だよ)

Happy Happy (ハッピー・ハッピー Happī Happī)

English version

Never keep a good Duck down

Alfred Song

Danish version

Sprøjte, pjatte, plaske

I dag er jeg så lyk'lig

Hebrew version

בין טיפות המים

אני כל-כך שמח

Finnish version

Alfred J. Kwak

Onnenpäivä

Credits

English version

Danish version

Alternative titles

International broadcasters

Country TV Network
Netherlands VARA
Japan TV Tokyo
Germany ZDF
Israel IETV
Spain TVE
United Kingdom Channel 4
Italy Italia 1, Canale 5
Greece ERT
Poland TVP1
Hungary Magyar Televízió, Minimax (TV channel)
Romania TVR
Iceland Sjónvarpið
Sweden SVT, SR, TV4
Belgium BRT, RTBF
Norway NRK
Denmark TV2
Finland YLE
Serbia BK
France FR3, Canal+, Canal Famille
Austria ORF 1

The show has had some PAL VHS releases in the United Kingdom and Germany (as spotted on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de), but does not appear to have an NTSC release in the United States and Canada.

A DVD Region 2 box set of the whole series has been produced and is sold in the Netherlands and Finland. An English DVD release was made late 2007 with only 12 episodes, and is now available to buy on Amazon.com.[6]

In the Dutch, German and UK version Alfred has an occasionally used catchphrase:- "Piccobello!"; used to express extreme enthusiasm or happiness.

References

  1. 1 2 Wolf, Matt (11 November 1990). "Herman Van Who?". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  2. "Alfred J. Kwak". IMDB.com. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  3. Amidi, Amid (16 February 2013). "Harald Siepermann (1962-2013)". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  4. Jonathan Clements; Helen McCarthy. "The Anime Encyclopedia, 3rd Revised Edition: A Century of Japanese Animation". Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  5. Archived 19 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine.

External links

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