is a cartoon

Cartoon

A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...

 television series based on a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 show by Herman van Veen

Herman van Veen

Hermannus Jantinus "Herman" van Veen is a Dutch stage performer, actor, musician and singer/songwriter and author. He is most famous as the creator of the Dutch-Japanese cartoon Alfred J...

 and was co-produced by VARA

VARA (broadcaster)

The Omroepvereniging VARA is a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system, founded in 1925 as the Vereeniging van Arbeiders Radio Amateurs...

, Telecable Benelux B.V. and TV Tokyo

TV Tokyo

is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...

 and first shown in 1989. It consists of 52 episode

Episode

An episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book. The term sometimes applies to works based on other forms of mass media as well, as in Star Wars...

s. The series characters were designed by Harald Siepermann. There is also a comic based on the animated series and toys.

The series has been broadcast in many countries and has been dubbed

Dubbing (filmmaking)

Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...

 and subtitled in Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

, French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, Japanese

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

, Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

, English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

, Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

, Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

, Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

, Hungarian

Hungarian language

Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

, Finnish

Finnish language

Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...

, Serbian

Serbian language

Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....

, Polish

Polish language

Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...

, German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, Swedish

Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

, Danish

Danish language

Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...

, Icelandic

Icelandic language

Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...

, Chinese

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

, Czech

Czech language

Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...

, Korean

Korean language

Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...

 and Norwegian

Norwegian language

Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...

.

In 1991, Herman van Veen won the Goldene Kamera

Verleihung der Goldenen Kamera

The GOLDENE KAMERA is an annual German film and television award, awarded by the television magazine HÖRZU. The gold-plated silver award model was created by Berlin artist Wolfram Beck...

 award for the cartoon.

Origins

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 who died when a car hits them. Henk the mole

Mole (animal)

Moles are small cylindrical mammals adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have velvety fur; tiny or invisible ears and eyes; and short, powerful limbs with large paws oriented for digging. The term is especially and most properly used for the true moles, those of the Talpidae family in the...

, a good friend of the Kwak family, raises the little yellow 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

Friendship

Friendship is a form of interpersonal relationship generally considered to be closer than association, although there is a range of degrees of intimacy in both friendships and associations. Friendship and association are often thought of as spanning across the same continuum...

 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

Absolute monarchy

Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...

 to a constitutional monarchy

Constitutional monarchy

Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...

 with a democratically elected president candidate. Such themes are far from typical in a children's cartoon, and form a big part of Alfred J. Kwaks 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

Surrealism

Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....

. 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.

Alfred

Alfred J. Kwak is a duck

Duck

Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...

. As a child he lives in a giant clog with his family, later on he lives with his adoptive father Henk. 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).

Dolf

Dolf is Alfred's Archenemy

Archenemy

An archenemy, archfoe, archvillain or archnemesis is the principal enemy of a character in a work of fiction, often described as the hero's worst enemy .- Etymology :The word archenemy or arch-enemy originated...

 and first appears in episode 4. In the first episode Dolf's parents, a crow

Crow

Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...

 and a blackbird, can be seen making disparaging comments on the eggs of Alfred's mother. Both are dressed in traditional German garment

Tracht

Tracht is a traditional national costume in German-speaking countries. Although the word is most often associated with Austrian and Bavarian costumes, many other peoples of Germany have them.-History:...

. The father wears Lederhosen

Lederhosen

Lederhosen are breeches made of leather; they may be either short or knee-length. The longer ones are generally called Bundhosen....

, a feathered hat and, in the Dutch original, speaks with a heavy German accent, while Dolf's mother is seen in a dirndl outfit

Dirndl

A dirndl [ˈdɪʁndl̩] is a type of traditional dress worn in Bavaria, Liechtenstein, Austria, and South Tyrol, based on the historical costume of Alpine peasants. Dresses that are loosely based on the dirndl are known as Landhausmode.-Description:...

.
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

Blame

Blame is the act of censuring, holding responsible, making negative statements about an individual or group that their action or actions are socially or morally irresponsible, the opposite of praise. When someone is morally responsible for doing something wrong their action is blameworthy...

 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

Self image

A person's self-image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change, that depicts not only details that are potentially available to objective investigation by others A person's self-image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change,...

; 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.
Episode 22 through 25 are essentially an allegory of the rise and fall of Fascism

Fascism

Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...

/Nazism

Nazism

Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

, with Dolf himself, though wearing a Napoleonic uniform, as a clear caricature of Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

. 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

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

 and takes over the country. Political opponents, including Alfred, are imprisoned on the charge of high treason

High treason

High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...

. Alfred and his friends barely escape and flee abroad to the neighboring country of Great Reedland

Reed bed

Reed beds are natural habitats found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions andestuaries. Reed beds are part of a succession from young reed colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground...

. Not much later the King of Great Waterland himself flees as well, and Dolf proclaims himself Emperor

Emperor

An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...

 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 as an appearance 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, sky rocketing 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

Mole (animal)

Moles are small cylindrical mammals adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have velvety fur; tiny or invisible ears and eyes; and short, powerful limbs with large paws oriented for digging. The term is especially and most properly used for the true moles, those of the Talpidae family in the...

. He raised Alfred after his family died. In the Israeli version he is called Hafi, a shortcut for "Hafarperet" - the Hebrew word for "mole".

Winnie

Winnie is a black duck and Alfred's girlfriend. In the Dutch version she speaks Afrikaans

Afrikaans

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

 accented Dutch. Afrikaans being a language closely related to Dutch and spoken in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. 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
  Polar Bear
  The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
  
  , talking with a German accent. In the UK, Hungarian 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
  Himalayas
  The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
  
  . 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 don't expose any carbon monoxide
  Carbon monoxide
  Carbon monoxide , also called carbonous oxide, is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is slightly lighter than air. It is highly toxic to humans and animals in higher quantities, although it is also produced in normal animal metabolism in low quantities, and is thought to have some normal...
  
   and prevent acid rain
  Acid rain
  Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions . It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen...
  
  .

• Ollie is Alfred's close school-friend, a stork
  Stork
  Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae. They are the only family in the biological order Ciconiiformes, which was once much larger and held a number of families....
  
   who grows up to be a lawyer, and later, after the defeat of Dolf, the first democratically elected president of Great Waterland. In the Israeli version, Ollie is called Lolly and is a female.

• Pikkie is another friend of Alfred's from his schooldays. A magpie
  Magpie
  Magpies are passerine birds of the crow family, Corvidae.In Europe, "magpie" is often used by English speakers as a synonym for the European Magpie, as there are no other magpies in Europe outside Iberia...
  
  , 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 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 she 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
  Lion
  The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
  
   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
  Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
  Franz Ferdinand was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia...
  
  . he makes his first appearance in episode 20 when Alfred wonders what kind of a king he is. He is shown lying down 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
  Democracy
  Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
  
   elected president as the actual head of government.

• Lispel is a sinister jellyfish
  Jellyfish
  Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Medusa is another word for jellyfish, and refers to any free-swimming jellyfish stages in the phylum Cnidaria...
  
   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.

Great Waterland

Great Waterland (Groot-Waterland in Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

) 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 polder

Polder

A polder is a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments known as dikes, that forms an artificial hydrological entity, meaning it has no connection with outside water other than through manually-operated devices...

s, the town Alfred lives in is built in a typical Dutch style, while he himself lives in a house made from a clog

Clog (shoe)

A clog is a type of footwear made in part or completely from wood.The Oxford English Dictionary defines a clog as a "thick piece of wood", and later as a "wooden soled overshoe" and a "shoe with a thick wooden sole"....

. 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

Constitutional monarchy

Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...

 with an elected president.

Episode list

Season 1 Alfred Comes To Life Alfred's First Birthday The Ruby Of The Crown My Father Is Henk Dolf's Secret The Great Race Sea Scouts Part 1 Sea Scouts Part 2 The Strange Bottle Flying Carpet Alfred Joins The Circus Alfred's Chess Adventure The Queen Loses Her Crown Let's Find The Sawfish Alfred's Perilous Voyage The Search For The Whales Visitors From Outer Space The Southern Cross The Ocean Belong To All Of Us Desert Dream The King Takes A Loan Dolf Is Justice Escape From The Crow Party Emperor Dolf The First The Decline And Fall Of Emperor Dolf The Snowman

Season 2 Love At First Sight A Gift From The King Journey To At A Turtle Island Drilling For Oil They Come To Atlantis Gunfight At Tombstone The Riddle Of The Pyramid The Labyrinth The Course Of True Love An Invitation From The Prince Love Unites Who Wants To Marry A Witch The Stolen Pan The Volcano Erupts Save The Dragon Vote For Ollie Dolf Takes A Chance The Strange Epidemic Clown On The Moon The Magic Fiddle How About A Game Of Golf Looking For The Rainbow Pot Of Gold Forests Of Fuel? Dolf's Last Stand

Dutch version

Spetter Pieter Pater

• Performed by Herman van Veen
  Herman van Veen
  Hermannus Jantinus "Herman" van Veen is a Dutch stage performer, actor, musician and singer/songwriter and author. He is most famous as the creator of the Dutch-Japanese cartoon Alfred J...
  
   (OP)

Ik ben vandaag zo vrolijk

• Performed by Ryan van den Akker and Herman van Veen
  Herman van Veen
  Hermannus Jantinus "Herman" van Veen is a Dutch stage performer, actor, musician and singer/songwriter and author. He is most famous as the creator of the Dutch-Japanese cartoon Alfred J...
  
   (ED)

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

• Performed by Herman van Veen
  Herman van Veen
  Hermannus Jantinus "Herman" van Veen is a Dutch stage performer, actor, musician and singer/songwriter and author. He is most famous as the creator of the Dutch-Japanese cartoon Alfred J...
  
   (OP)

Warum bin ich so fröhlich

• Performed by Ryan van den Akker and Herman van Veen
  Herman van Veen
  Hermannus Jantinus "Herman" van Veen is a Dutch stage performer, actor, musician and singer/songwriter and author. He is most famous as the creator of the Dutch-Japanese cartoon Alfred J...
  
   (ED)

Japanese version

Yakusoku da yo (約束だよ)

• Performed by Megumi Hayashibara
  Megumi Hayashibara
  is a Japanese voice actress, singer, radio personality, and lyricist from Tokyo. She is currently affiliated with Aksent. Her nicknames include: Megu-san, Megu-nee, Bara-san, Kakka, and Daijin...
  
   (OP)

Happy Happy ~ Alfred's Walk (ハッピー・ハッピー)

• Performed by Megumi Hayashibara
  Megumi Hayashibara
  is a Japanese voice actress, singer, radio personality, and lyricist from Tokyo. She is currently affiliated with Aksent. Her nicknames include: Megu-san, Megu-nee, Bara-san, Kakka, and Daijin...
  
   (ED)

English version

Never keep a good Duck down

• Performed by Alan Carr, Russell Shaw
  Russell Shaw (composer)
  Russell Shaw is a British composer and sound designer. He is known for his work in many video games, particularly those designed by Peter Molyneux.-Biography and career:...
  
  (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)

New series

On November 13, 2008 Herman van Veen's official site announced that a new series and movie are on the cards. These will focus on Alfred and Winnie's son, with the parents fulfilling a supporting role.

Credits

• Original Idea and Storylines: Herman van Veen
  Herman van Veen
  Hermannus Jantinus "Herman" van Veen is a Dutch stage performer, actor, musician and singer/songwriter and author. He is most famous as the creator of the Dutch-Japanese cartoon Alfred J...
  
  
• Scripts and Storyboards: Akira Miyazaki
• Director: Hiroshi Saito
  Hiroshi Saito
  is a former governor of Yamagata Prefecture. He was first elected in 2005. A native of Yamagata, Yamagata, he joined the Bank of Japan upon graduation from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in 1981. He also received MIPP in 1989 and MA in 1990 from Paul H...
  
  
• 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
  Herman van Veen
  Hermannus Jantinus "Herman" van Veen is a Dutch stage performer, actor, musician and singer/songwriter and author. He is most famous as the creator of the Dutch-Japanese cartoon Alfred J...
  
  , Erik Van Der Wurff, Nard Reijnders
• Lyrics: Herman van Veen
  Herman van Veen
  Hermannus Jantinus "Herman" van Veen is a Dutch stage performer, actor, musician and singer/songwriter and author. He is most famous as the creator of the Dutch-Japanese cartoon Alfred J...
  
  
• Sound Direction: Sigeharu Shiba
• Production Managers: Manabu Tamura, Tamehide Hyakuruka, Tuneumi Nakamura
• Production Studios: Telescreen Japan Inc, Teleimage Inc
• Producer: Hanuo Tabata
• Executive Producer: Dennis Livson
• Produced by: Telecable Benelux B.V.
• In Co-Production with: TV Tokyo
  TV Tokyo
  is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...
  
   - Japan
  Japan
  Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
  
  , Vara
  VARA (broadcaster)
  The Omroepvereniging VARA is a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system, founded in 1925 as the Vereeniging van Arbeiders Radio Amateurs...
  
   - Holland, ZDF
  ZDF
  Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
  
   - Germany
  Germany
  Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
  
  , TVE - Spain
  Spain
  Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
  
  

English Version

• Recorded at: EPK Work in Arts, Bray Studios (UK)
  Bray Studios (UK)
  Bray Studios is a film and television facility at Bray, near Windsor, Berkshire, England. The films Alien and The Rocky Horror Picture Show were shot there...
  
  
• Voices: John Baddeley
  John Baddeley (actor)
  Edward John Baddeley is a British actor. Apart from his work in the theatre in the provinces and the West End, he is also notable for his work with the BBC and as voice-over artist...
  
  , Alan Carr
  Alan Carr
  Alan Carr is an English comedian and television personality. Born in Weymouth, he was raised in Northampton before moving to Manchester during his early 20's....
  
  , Steve Cooke
  Steve Cooke
  Steven Cooke is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1992–1994 and 1996-1998. He was named as the LHP in the Topps All-Star Rookie Team in 1993.-Life:...
  
  , Melvyn Hayes
  Melvyn Hayes
  Melvyn Hayes is an English actor probably best known for playing the effeminate Gunner "Gloria" Beaumont in the 1970s BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum,-Early life and career:...
  
  , Jill Lidstone, Hugo Myatt
  Hugo Myatt
  Hugo Myatt is a British actor, best known for his role as dungeon master Treguard of Dunshelm in the children's game show Knightmare. He has often commented that he did not mind working with children on Knightmare as his first job was as an actor in children's theatre.In addition to numerous...
  
  , Lyn Beardsall
• Director: Stanley Joseph
• Dubbing Editor: Russell Shaw
  Russell Shaw (composer)
  Russell Shaw is a British composer and sound designer. He is known for his work in many video games, particularly those designed by Peter Molyneux.-Biography and career:...
  
  

Danish Version

• Distribution: Scanbox Danmark A/S
• Translation: Tekstkontoret
• Voices: Lasse Lunderskov, Tim Mehrens, Vibeke Dueholm

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 (She'al'ti'el Quack; Hebrew)
• Alfred Andreas Kvakk (Norwegian)
• Alfred Jeremias Kvack (Swedish)
• Alfred J. Kwak (Finnish)
• Alfréd a kacsa (Hungarian)
• Alfred Džonatan Kvak (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)

Airing details

Country	TV Network
Netherlands	VARA VARA (broadcaster) The Omroepvereniging VARA is a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system, founded in 1925 as the Vereeniging van Arbeiders Radio Amateurs...
Japan	TV Tokyo TV Tokyo is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...
Germany	ZDF ZDF Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
Israel	IETV Israeli Educational Television The Israeli Educational Television is a state-owned public television network which used to concentrate on producing and broadcasting programs for schoolchildren. The first Israeli children's show, featuring Kishkashta, aired on Channel 1 in the 1970s and '80s...
Spain	TVE Televisión Española Televisión Española is the national state-owned public-service television broadcaster in Spain. TVE's activities were previously financed by a combination of advertising revenue and subsidies from the national government, but since it's been supported by subsidies only.TVE belongs to the RTVE...
United Kingdom	Channel 4 Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
Italy	Italia 1 Italia 1 Italia 1 is an Italian commercial television channel on the Mediaset network. It is oriented especially at young people.Italia 1 was launched in January 1982 and, originally, was owned by Rusconi; after a few months, however, due to the aggressive dumping practices of Silvio Berlusconi's rival... , ReteItalia Mediaset Mediaset S.p.A., known as Gruppo Mediaset in Italian, is an Italian-based media company which is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country...
Greece	ERT Elliniki Radiofonia Tileorasi The Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation is the Greek state-owned public radio and television broadcasting corporation. It is a member of EBU.Since 70's ERT is part of the Eurovision Song Contest, organized by EBU...
Poland	TVP Telewizja Polska Telewizja Polska Spółka Akcyjna is Poland's public broadcasting corporation...
Hungary	Magyar Televízió Magyar Televízió Magyar Televízió is the Hungarian national public service television company, with three TV channels, called m1 , m2 and m3.... , BRT Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep The Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie , or VRT, is a publicly-funded broadcaster of radio and television in Flanders .... , RTBF RTBF Radio Télévision Belge Francophone is the public broadcasting organization of the French Community of Belgium, the southern, French-speaking part of Belgium...
Iceland	Sjónvarpið Sjónvarpið RÚV is the television channel of RÚV, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, launched in 1966. The channel broadcasts primarily news, sports, cultural programs, children's material, American, British & Nordic films and entertainment programming...
Sweden	SVT Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners...
Belgium	SR Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio AB – Swedish Radio Ltd – is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. The Swedish public-broadcasting system is in many respects modelled after the one used in the United Kingdom, and Sveriges Radio - like Sveriges Television - shares many characteristics with... , TV4
Norway	NRK
Denmark	TV2 TV 2 (Denmark) TV 2 is a publicly owned television station in Denmark based in Odense. The station began broadcasting on 1 October 1988, thereby ending the television monopoly previously exercised by the Danmarks Radio ....
Finland	YLE
Serbia	BK
France	FR3 France 3 France 3 is the second largest French public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5, and France Ô.... , Canal+ Canal+ Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted... , Canal Famille

Allusions

• That Alfred's girlfriend fleeing Apartheid is called Winnie is probably a reference to the ex-wife of Nelson Mandela
  Nelson Mandela
  Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
  
  , Winnie Mandela.
• One episode features a womanising pop star
  Pop Star
  "Pop Star" is a 2005 single from Japanese singer Ken Hirai. The single went on to top the 2005 Oricon Charts and is known for its remarkable music video, featuring Ken in seven different personas, including a raccoon and his own manager. The Video also helped Ken break into the US and Canadian...
  
   duck who nearly steals Winnie off Alfred. He appears to be loosely based on Prince and Michael Jackson
  Michael Jackson
  Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
  
  .
• 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
  Ethiopia
  Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
  
   by Bob Geldof
  Bob Geldof
  Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...
  
   through his live aid
  Live Aid
  Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...
  
  -project in the mid-1980s.
• In the Danish version the main character is Rasmus Rap, a name earlier used for Donald Duck in that country.
• Alfred J. Kwak was named after Alfred Biolek
  Alfred Biolek
  Alfred Biolek is a well-known German entertainer and television producer...
  
  , a friend of Van Veen's. He has said this in a program on Dutch television.

Releases

The show has had some PAL

PAL

PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...

 VHS

VHS

The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

 releases in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 (as spotted on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de), but does not appear to have an NTSC

NTSC

NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...

 release in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

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.

There is currently a petition going around to bring Alfred J Kwak out on DVD in the UK. This is located on PetitionOnline under the ID AlfredUK.

External links

• jodokus.nl - A more complete overview of the story's history (Dutch).