Alfred Jodocus Kwak
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| Alfred Jodocus Kwak | |
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 Logo of Alfred Jodocus Kwak |
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| Genre | Cartoon |
| Creator(s) | Herman van Veen |
| Country of origin | Netherlands, Germany, Japan |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Telescreen |
| Running time | 25 minutes approx. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel |  VARA |
| Original run | 1989 – 1991 |
| Links | |
Alfred Jodocus Kwak is a Dutch children's cartoon character created in 1989, based on a Dutch theatre show by Herman van Veen. Alfred J. Kwak is the main character in the self-titled cartoon series primarily commissioned by the VARA. Compared to other children's television series, Alfred J. Kwak features exceptionally mature and often sad themes. In the second episode, just after Alfred is born, his entire family dies when a car hits them. Alfred then gets raised by Henk, a mole.
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. 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 progresses. This is particularly striking in the character of Dolf. At first a mere naughty schoolboy, we watch as his evil steadily progresses.
Alfred J. Kwak was based on a theatre show by Herman van Veen who also wrote and performed the theme music for the cartoons. The cartoons were drawn by Harald Siepermann.
The series has been broadcasted in many countries and has been dubbed and subtitled in Dutch, French, Japanese, Greek, English, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Finnish, Serbian, Polish, Swedish, Danish and Icelandic.
In 1991, Herman van Veen won the Verleihung der Goldenen Kamera, the German television award, for the animation in this cartoon.
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[edit] Characters
- Alfred J. Kwak is a duck. As a kid he lives in a giant clog with his family, later on he lives with his adoptive father Henk in a clog-shaped house. He is very concerned with other people. Although he has gone through a lot of sad things, his favourite song is 'Ik ben vandaag zo vrolijk' (I'm so happy today).
- Henk is a mole. He raised Alfred after his family died.
- Dolf is Alfred's enemy. He is the leader of the 'Kraaienpartij' (National Crows' Party). He is a brute figure who is only interested in power. Although he wears a Napoleonic uniform, Dolf clearly depicts Adolf Hitler (Dolf, short for Adolf, was a popular Dutch child name for people who supported the NSDAP during World War II). Dolf is called Kra in the German version.
- Winnie is a black duck and Alfred's girlfriend.
- Professor Paljas is an interdisciplinary academic. He is a polar bear, talking with a German accent. In the UK version he is called Professor Buffon.
- 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 Groot Waterland (Great Waterland).
- Pikkie is an 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, and Grabbie in the UK version.
- Franz Ferdinand is a lion and the king of Groot-Waterland, the country in which Alfred lives. He is named after the real historical figure Franz Ferdinand.
- Lispel is a sinister jellyfish, he is a spy working for the mayor of the city. Talks with a lisp.
[edit] Other facts
- Dolf indulges in a many great villainous acts aside from the fascist-style coup he stages. At various points he steals gems, indulges in arms dealing, captures an intelligent dragon to sell to a zoo, shoots Lispel, and deliberately damages a dam during the country's election campaign, leading to several deaths. The depiction of Dolf's rule is a satire on Nazism, complete with references to Dolf enforcing "racial purity". Dolf is revealed at one point as being "part-blackbird", a sly reference to Hitler himself hardly living up to the Aryan ideal. Just as Hitler was not a German, Dolf colors his yellow beak black to seem like a full crow.
- Aside from Dolf and Lispel, other villains Alfred has to face include the corrupt Mayor Crocodile, selfish landowning ape Mr. NittyLocopan, Scratchpaws the ravenous cat, and the authorities of the Apartheid South African style state "Atrique".
- That Alfred's girlfriend fleeing Apartheid is called Winnie is probably a reference to the ex-wife of Nelson Mandela.
- One episode features a womanising pop star duck who nearly steals Winnie off Alfred. He appears to be loosely based on Prince and Michael Jackson.
- Although most of the worlds population is depicted as anthropomorphic animals, there are apparently humans present, however the humans are described as savage beasts, that are for example caged in circuses, with "human tamers" to train them for shows.
- In the episode of Desert Dream, Alfred is introduced by a singer named Leifeet, to the problems of drought in a poor country. This clearly refers to the charity actions taken for Ethiopia by Bob Geldof through his live aid-project in the mid-1980s.
- 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.
- British actor Melvyn Hayes, best known for It Ain't Half Hot Mum, voiced several characters, including Dolf, in the UK, English-dubbed version.
- In the UK version the main character is Alfred Jonathan Kwak.
- In the Danish version the main character is Rasmus Rap.
- In the Dutch, German and UK version Alfred has an occasionally used catchphrase:- "Piccobello!"; used to express extreme enthusiasm or happiness.
[edit] Episode list
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Season 1
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Season 2
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[edit] 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)
- あひるのクワック (Ahiru no Kuwakku; Japanese)
- 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 Ooki na Ai no Monogatari Ahiru no Kuwakku; Japanese)
- שאלתיאל קוואק (Sha'al'ti'el Quack; Hebrew)
- Alfred Andreas Kvakk (Norwegian)
- Alfred Jeremias Kvack (Swedish)
- Alfred Jodocus Kvaakku (Finnish)
- Alfréd a kacsa (Hungarian)
[edit] References
- Anime News Network editors (2006). Ahiru no Quack (TV). Anime News Network. Retrieved on August 24, 2006.
- Alfred J. Kwak - Big Cartoon DataBase
- Episode Guide
[edit] External links
- Harald Siepermann's blog - the blog of the character designer of Alfred J. Kwak
- Alfred Jodocus Kwak blog - a blog with exclusively postings about Alfred J. Kwak, ran by Harald Siepermann
