Alfred's brothers and sisters

Alfred's brothers and sisters
Characters
Alfred and his 6 siblings in Episode 1
Species	Duck
Birthplace	Breed Rietland
First appearance	Episode 1
Character Model Sheet number	15/1
Character Model Sheet name	Alfred's Broers en Zussen (lit. Alfreds brothers and sisters)
Names in different languages
Dutch names	Clara, Hans, Jan, Josefien, Marjolein and Robert
Japanese names	Unknown
German names	Unknown
English names	Unknown

Alfred Jodocus Kwak was the firstborn in a nest of seven. His brothers and sisters were unnamed in the animated series but were later named and described in books. They, along with their parents Johan Sebastiaan Kwak and Anna van de Polder, were struck by a car carrying Olaf Nijlpaard and Alfons Rokodil while emigrating from their birthplace, Breed Rietland, to Groot Waterland.

The series and books differ in their depiction of how many brothers and sisters Alfred has. The series appears to show four brothers and two sisters, though the exact numbers are unclear and unspecified. Conversely, the books explicitly state that Alfred has three brothers and three sisters (even though De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Goedemorgen uses designs based on the character sheets from Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak like the series does. Therefore the pictures can be considered at odds with the text). Due to the additional details provided in the books, this page primarily follows that interpretation. The books give their names as Clara, Hans, Jan, Josefien, Marjolein and Robert.

Appearance and Personality

These descriptions are based on their appearance in the books De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Goedemorgen and De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak. For visual descriptions from the animated series please check the production background chapter on this page.

Clara

Clara had a round tummy. She was named after Anna van de Polder's bosem friend Clara and Anna was regularly reminded of this, especially after the immigration to Groot Waterland had split Anna and Clara up.

Hans

Hans was the biggest and the toughest of Alfred's siblings. He was said to be named after Anna's father. Hans was always hungry and always wanted a double portion of duckweed. Hans could also be just as adventurous and curious as his big brother, Alfred, but for Hans it was about looking for more duckweed.

Jan

Jan had a wise look in his eyes. He was, according to De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak named after Anna's oldest brother Jan van de Polder. Jan was always calm by nature, even during the emigration to Groot Waterland. In hindsight, Henk de Mol confesses that he thought Jan might've felt the accident in which the family died coming.

Josefien

Josefien is described as having a little black spot. Anna was very distraught with the idea that the little black spot could be something medically wrong with Josefien, especially after construction on Groot Speelgoed Land started and she couldn't stop crying from the noise. Josefien was named afer Anna's mother .

Marjolein

Named after Johan Sebastiaan Kwak's mother, she was the smallest of the girls, with white feathers and looked extremely similar to Anna in miniature.

Robert

Robert, the smallest of the siblings, was even smaller than Marjolein and had the pet name Robbie because of his diminutive size. His small, crooked beak gave him a comical appearance. He was the most quiet of the bunch. Robert was named after Robert Kwak, Johan's father.

Alfred and his brothers and sisters follow Anna van de Polder, while one of them greets a centipede.

Storyline

Clara, Hans, Jan, Josefien, Marjolein, and Robert were born shortly after Alfred Jodocus Kwak to their parents, Johan Sebastiaan Kwak and Anna van de Polder. Their eldest brother, Alfred, would occasionally leave the nest to explore, prompting Henk de Mol, Johan's friend, and Johan himself to retrieve him. Shortly after Alfred was returned, the entire family—ducklings and their father—were lifted into the sky, clog and all, by an excavator operated by the Beton Maatschappij. Johan kept his children safe, ensuring none fell to the ground. Although he protested, the project manager, Olaf Nijlpaard, held permits to build in their home, the Plaspoelpolder, forcing the family to watch from a distance as Groot Speelgoed Land was constructed.

A few days later, the family departed for Groot Waterland, heading to start a new life in the mining house owned by Henk de Mol's grandfather near Polderstad. The seven ducklings followed Johan and Anna, who carried their living clog. From afar, the children grew frightened by the fireworks marking the opening of Groot Speelgoed Land. After a brief pause, they resumed their journey. When rain began to fall, Anna placed four of the seven ducklings into the clog for shelter.

During the journey, Alfred became distracted by a frog, prompting Henk to chase after him. As Johan, Anna, Clara, Hans, Jan, Josefien, Marjolein, and Robert crossed the street, they were struck by a car carrying Alfons Rokodil and Olaf Nijlpaard in a hit-and-run, resulting in the deaths of the entire family.

Family Tree

Kwak/van de Polder/Wana/de Mol family tree

Alfred de Mol

Marjolein de Mol

Robert Kwak

Marjolein Kwak

Jan "Woerd" van de Polder

Josefien van de Polder

Henk's parent

Johan Sebastiaan Kwak

Anna van de Polder

Jan van de Polder Junior

Henk de Mol

Kwa Wana

Blanche Wana

Clara Kwak

Hans Kwak

Jan Kwak

Josefien Kwak

Marjolein Kwak

Robert "Robbie" Kwak

Alfred Jodocus Kwak

Winnie Mandoline Wana

Tom Wana

Voice actors

Japanese	¦	Unknown	¦	Unknown
Dutch	¦	Marlous Fluitsma, Ryan van de Akker, Laura Vlasblom, Doris Baaten	¦	Clara, Hans, Jan, Josefien, Marjolein and Robert
German	¦	Unknown	¦	Unknown
English	¦	Unknown	¦	Unknown

Appearances

TV Series

• 
  Alfred J. Kwak Episode 1
• 
  Alfred J. Kwak Episode 2

Books

• 
  De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Goedemorgen (1989) (Dutch)
• 
  De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: De zeven eieren (1989) (Dutch)
• 
  De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: Omnibus 1 (1989) (Dutch)
• 
  Alfred J. Kwak Mijn avontuurlijke leven (1991) (Dutch)
• 
  Alfred J. Kwak Filmstripboek Deel 1 (2006) (Dutch)
• 
  De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: het grote voorleesboek (2010) (Dutch)

Production background

Alfred's siblings appear on sheet 15 of the Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak book, which was made in July of 1988. As per the outline Herman van Veen wrote, Alfred's siblings were only set to appear in Episode 1 according to his character sheet, but as the incident that killed them was moved to the first half of Episode 2 they also appeared there.

The siblings appear as four boys and two girls. While black ducks will become an important part of the narrative at the start of season 2 of the animated series, it seems that some ducks can be born black or with dark spots, without being a relative to originally black ducks. The other four ducklings are distinguished by their hairstyles. One male duckling is depicted with a quiff, while the other has curly brown hair. The female ducklings both have tails of hair or feathers. The duckling with the longer tail has it gathered with a hairband, whereas the duckling with the shorter tail ties it with a pink bow. Out of the females only one of them has extra eye lashes, which can be considered a tertiary sexual characterstic.

Apart from making noises they have little to no dialogue, however in Alfred J. Kwak Filmstripboek Deel 1, in the retelling of Episode 1, a line originally belonging to Anna van de Polder is given to one of Alfred's sisters, making that the first time in any media any of them speak a full sentence in the Dutch version.