Alfred J. Kwak
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Alfred J. Kwak | |
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Created by | Herman van Veen[1] |
Written by | Akira Miyazaki |
Directed by | Hiroshi Saitō |
Starring |
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Music by |
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Country of origin |
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No. of episodes | 52[1] |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Running time | 22−23 minutes |
Production companies |
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Animation studio | Telescreen Japan |
Original release | |
Network | TV Tokyo |
Release | 3 April 1989 29 March 1990 | –
Alfred J. Kwak
The series has been broadcast in many countries and has been
In 1991, Herman van Veen won the
Origins
When our children were still young, I wrote the first story on Alfred Jodocus Kwak. This was really caused by two things. One night I was driving my car home through the countryside, when I accidentally ran over a duck. I regretted it deeply. A few days later I was on the telephone at home 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 we were talking I thought: "Could that mother duck be looking for her husband? And how do you explain to a duck that you've ran over another duck?" "Hello, hello?", the voice on the phone said, "What are you thinking about?" "I'm thinking of a duck", I replied. The man said: "Excellent, so you'll write us a fairytale about a duck." And that's how Alfred Jodocus Kwak 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 dark 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
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
Characters
Main characters
Alfred
Alfred Jodocus Kwak is a
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. In the German version, Dolf is called Kra, and in the Finnish version, him is called Korppi.
Oh, they look repulsive.
Waterfowlaren'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, as a child, Dolf is prone to
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 cannot waste time on a campaign. 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. Lispel manages to escape and, though heavily wounded, is able to tell 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 26 years of imprisonment. Aided by a former member of his Crows Party, he can escape and takes Winnie, Alfred's girlfriend, hostage. In the series' finale, after a manic hunt, Alfred finds Dolf, who tells him where Winnie is. After telling Alfred her whereabouts, Dolf attempts to escape, only to be caught by the police and put back 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, her name is a reference to Winnie Mandela. 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
- Professor Paljas is an interdisciplinary academic. He is a polar bear, and speaks with a German accent. In the UK, Hungarian, Serbian, and Israeli versions he is called Professor Buffon. He makes his first appearance in episode 18, in which he attempts to communicate with the whales in the South Pole using his new invention "Jonus". He returns in episode 26, in which he asks Alfred to join him on his expedition to the Himalayas. He also travels (with Alfred of course), to Egypt to find the only medicine which can cure his ill colleague, and the jungle to investigate a volcano which keeps erupting. He cares a lot about the environment and develops a petrol for vehicles that doesn't expose any carbon monoxide and prevents acid rain.
- Ollie is Alfred's close school-friend, a stork who grows up to be a lawyer, and later, after the defeat of Dolf, the first democratically elected president of Great Waterland. In the Dutch version, Ollie is a girl during childhood, but a male when he is an adult, confirming his status as Transgender. This change is never directly addressed in the series. In a Dutch interview from 2013 however, Van Veen stated that this gender change was intentional, since that also happens in the real world.[5] In the Israeli version, is a female and is named Lolly.
- Pikkie is another friend of Alfred's from his schooldays. A magpie, Pikkie is prone to stealing shiny objects, a trait which often lands his friends in trouble. Pikkie is called Stibitzi in the German version, Ruby in the Israeli version, Grabbie in the UK version, Hannu in Finnish version and Grabljivko in Serbian version. He makes his first appearance in episode 2, in which he attends Alfred's first birthday party. He steals the king's ruby during a visit in the king's castle and Alfred gets blamed for it. He is often seen in the early episodes when Alfred was still at school. After episode 12 he isn't seen or spoken of for 19 episodes. We are not told what he did or where he was during Dolf's activism and other events. Alfred and Henk meet him again coincidentally on an oil rig, sporting a stubbly beard, where he worked as a diamond expert. In episode 49 he falls from the sky in front of Alfred's house after trying to fly to the rainbow. He joins Alfred, Prof. Paljas and Henk on an expedition to the rainforest in which the legendary Pot of Gold is kept. His weakness for shining objects persuades him to steal it but Dolf takes it from him at the airport.
- Franz Ferdinand is a lion and the king of Great Waterland, the country in which Alfred lives. He is a well-meaning, yet lazy and incompetent monarch, with no interest in politics. He is named after the real historical figure Franz Ferdinand. He makes his first appearance in episode 2. In episode 20 Alfred wonders what kind of a king he is. He then is shown lying in his lemonade bath and enjoying life, when a servant comes in and tells him that the messenger from Great Sparrowland has arrived and wants to speak him. The king claims that he just got into the bath, but the servant reassures him that he's been in it for over two hours. The king asks the servant to speak with the messenger for him but since his signature is needed he reluctantly gets out of the bath. In episode 21 the king goes bankrupt and is forced to take loan from Alfred, which he doesn't pay back. After the rise of Dolf, the exiled king realises how careless and reluctant he has been, and begins to take interest in politics. After Dolf's fall, in the planning of which Franz Ferdinand was involved, he becomes a just and beloved king. In episode 43 however, he decides to surrender all his executive power and remain only as a ceremonial head of state, with a democratically elected president as the actual head of government.
- Lispel is a sinister jellyfish and a spy working for the mayor of the city. As his name suggests, he talks with a lisp. He makes his first appearance in episode 7 as a contact to another agent. In episodes 14, 16 & 19 he informs the mayor of Alfred's plans of preventing him from making ships that catch all fish of the world. In episode 23, during Dolf's activism Lispel informs Dolf where Alfred and his friends are hiding after they escaped imprisonment. In episode 27 he sees Alfred taking in the refugees and threatens to tell the authorities unless he gets three gold coins. Alfred gives him the money but doesn't listen to Lispel's information (Which he must tell him, because he got his money). After several attempts of getting Alfred to listen to him, Lispel does go to the police and betrays them. Lispel makes some minor appearances in later episodes, but in episode 44, before the presidential elections, he sees Dolf and some hired foreigners damaging the dam which causes a huge flood. Dolf pays for repairs and equipment to become more popular, but Lispel threatens to tell unless he gets his gold. Dolf refuses because he thinks that Lispel will keep returning for more gold. By the docks (Their meeting point), Dolf pulls out a revolver and shoots Lispel several times. Lispel falls into the sea. Later in the episode he stands, badly injured, in Alfred's front garden and tells him everything. His last appearance is in episode 51 in which he informs the mayor of Prof. Paljas's plans on making a petrol which doesn't expose any gases or fumes. He receives his payment, leaves the mayor's house and is never seen again. He is not present at Alfred's birthday in the last episode.
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 show's characters. It is, partly, a caricature of the Netherlands. The land consists of
Episode list
Season 1
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Season 2
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Theme songs and voice actors
Dutch version
Spetter Pieter Pater
- Performed by Herman van Veen (OP)
Zo vrolijk
- Performed by Ryan van den Akker and Herman van Veen (ED)
Dutch
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).
Japanese version
Yakusoku da yo (約束だよ)
- Performed by Megumi Hayashibara (OP)
Happy Happy (ハッピー・ハッピー Happī Happī)
- Performed by Megumi Hayashibara (ED)
German version
Plätscher, Plitscher, Feder
- Performed by Ryan van den Akker (lalala part) and Herman van Veen (OP)
Warum bin ich so fröhlich
- Performed by Ryan van den Akker and Herman van Veen (ED)
English version
Never keep a good Duck down
- Performed by Alan Carr, Russell Shaw (OP)
Alfred Song
- Performed by Alan Carr (ED)
Danish version
Sprøjte, pjatte, plaske
- Performed by Lasse Lunderskov (OP)
I dag er jeg så lyk'lig
- Performed by Vibeke Dueholm and Lasse Lunderskov (OP)
Hebrew version
בין טיפות המים
- Performed by Orit Yaron
תמיד אני שמח
- Performed by Orit Yaron and Yuval Zamir
Finnish version
Alfred J. Kwak
- Performed by Katja Liljestrand, Liisa Lind, Solveig Sundqvist and Heidi Yrjä
Onnenpäivä
- Performed by Katja Liljestrand, Liisa Lind, Solveig Sundqvist and Heidi Yrjä
Italian version
"Niente paura, c'è Alfred!" (used as opening and ending theme)
- Performed by Cristina D'Avena, lyrics written by Alessandra Valeri Manera, and composed by Ninni Carucci
Serbian version
- Performed by Željko Plivelić
Swedish version
"Plaska, stänka, skvätta!"
Performed by Håkan Mohede
"Jag är så lycklig"
Performed by Nina Gunke
Credits
- Original idea and storylines: Herman van Veen
- Scripts and storyboards: Akira Miyazaki
- Director: Hiroshi Saito
- Production supervisor: Matsue Jimbo
- Character designer and storyboard supervisor: Harald Siepermann
- Background designs: Hans Bacher, Susumu Shiraume, Masaru Amamizu
- Colour designs: Hans Bacher
- Filming director: Hisao Shirai
- Music: Herman van Veen, Erik van der Wurff, Nard Reijnders
- Lyrics: Herman van Veen
- Sound direction: Shigeharu Shiba
- Production managers: Manabu Tamura, Tamehide Hyakuzuka, Tuneumi Nakamura
- Production studios: Telescreen Japan Inc, Teleimage Inc, Visual '80
- Producer: Kazuo Tabata
- Executive producer: Dennis Livson
- Produced by: Telecable Benelux B.V.
- In co-production with: Vara (Netherlands), ZDF (Germany), Televisión Española(Spain)
English version
- Recorded at: EPK Work in Arts, Bray Studios (UK)
- Voices: John Baddeley, Alan Carr, Steve Cooke, Melvyn Hayes, Jill Lidstone, Hugo Myatt, Lyn Beardsall
- Director: Stanley Joseph
- Dubbing editor: Russell Shaw
Danish version
- Distribution: Scanbox Danmark A/S
- Translation: Tekstkontoret
- Voices: Lasse Lunderskov, Tim Mehrens, Vibeke Dueholm
Hebrew version
- Recorded at: Triton Studio
- Voices: Orit Yaron, Yuval Zamir, Efron Etkin, Eli Gorenstein, Itzik Saidoff, Dov Reiser, Sarit Baruch-Seri, Shimon Cohen, Shosh Marciano, Gilat Ankori
- Translator and director: Shafrira Zakai
- Producer: Hasia Wertheim
- Dubbing editor: Sonia Yudilevich
Finnish version
- Recorded at: Yleisradio
- Translation: Irja Hämäläinen, Marjatta Kilpi-Wikström, Arja Kuittinen, Marjatta Sario, Arja Kataja, Pirjo Aaltonen, Arja Kari-Ovaskainen, Marja Huuskonen, Kirsti Luova, Maija Rantanen, Jertta Ratia-Kähönen
- Voices: Jarmo Koski, Martti Tschokkinen, Titta Jokinen, Pekka Autiovuori, Harri Hyttinen, Rabbe Smedlund, Pirkko Aarnio, Kauko Helovirta, Jukka Voutilainen (actor), Maria Salo, Kaija Kiiski, Voitto Nurmi
- Director: Irja Hämäläinen, Marja Huuskonen
- Voice recording: Timo Hintikka, Tarja Laaksonen, Pekka Heinonen, Matti Nuotio, Veijo Lehti, Ari Lyytikäinen, Heikki Häkkinen, Pekka Vanhanen
Serbian version
- Voices: Violeta Peković, Nebojša Burović, Tatjana Stanković, Goran Peković
- Translation: Neda Kovačević
- Songs: Željko Plivelić
- Tone master: Nebojša Burović
- Executive producer: Vladan Škrkić
- Dubbed by: BK TV
Alternative titles
- Alfred J. Quack
- Little Duck's Big Love Story
- The Adventures of Alfred J. Quack
- Alfred Jodocus Kwak (Dutch)
- Alfred Jonatan Kwak (Polish)
- Приключения Альфреда Квака (Priklyuchenia Alfreda Kwaka) (Russian)
- Niente paura, c'è Alfred! (Italian)
- Rasmus Rap (Danish)
- آلفرد كواك ("Alferd Quack") (Arabic)
- שאלתיאל קוואק (She'al'ti'el Quack) (Hebrew)
- Alfred Andreas Kvakk (Norwegian)
- Alfred Jeremias Kvack (Swedish)
- Alfred J. Kwak (Finnish)
- Alfréd a kacsa (Hungarian)
- Rățoiul Alfred (Romanian)
- Alfred Džonatan Kvak (Алфред Џонатан Квак) (Serbian)
- 鴨鴨歷險記 (Yia1 Yia1 Li4 Tian3 Gi4, The Adventures of Ducky) (Chinese)
- Alfreð Æringi Önd (Icelandic)
- Ο Άλφρεντ το παπί (O Álfred to papí) (Greek)
- 오리대장 꽉꽉 (Ori Daejang Ggwak Ggwak, "Captain Duck Ggwak Ggwak") (Korean)
Notes
References
- ^ a b Wolf, Matt (11 November 1990). "Herman Van Who?". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
- ^ Amidi, Amid (16 February 2013). "Harald Siepermann (1962-2013)". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
- ISBN 9781611729092. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- ^ "Alfred Jodocus Kwak". Archived from the original on 19 October 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2017. (It's in the ‘Over Alfred’ section: ‘Toen onze … geboren, per ongeluk.’)
- ^ "Ik stelde Herman van Veen alle vragen over Alfred Jodocus Kwak die ik ooit nog wilde stellen". Vice (in Dutch). 8 November 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
External links
- jodokus.nl - A more complete overview of the story's history (Dutch)
- Alfred J. Kwak (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Alfred J. Kwak at IMDb