De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: De zeven eieren (mini)

De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak "De zeven eieren" (mini)
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Written by	Herman van Veen
Artwork by	Hans Bacher Harald Siepermann
Cover design by	Teo van Gerwen
Typesetting and layout	M & P Tekst bv. Weert
Publisher	Uitgeverij van Reemst M & P bv
Language	Dutch
Release date	1991
Number of pages	32
Binding method	Hardcover
ISBN	9789035905931, 9035905938

"De zeven eieren" (lit. 'The seven eggs') is one of two mini versions of books released in a series of children's books called De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak (lit. The wonderful adventures of Alfred J. Kwak) that were originally released in 1989. The text from the original version was taken and condensed to fit the smaller page size. In turn, the text of the original "De Zeven Eieren" is taken mostly from De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Goedemorgen, which was released in the same year. "Goedemorgen" was retelling of the story of the first episode and partially of the second episode of the Alfred J. Kwak animated series. This book is accompanied with cels from the production.

Story

Summary

Henk de Mol emerges from his molehill in the pastures of Breed Rietland. Checking the time, he remarks that Johan Sebastiaan Kwak is late for their meeting again. Meanwhile, Johan rushes to meet Henk, after having awoken from a dream about icecream with chocolate sprinkles and whipped cream. He crosses the road without looking left or right and nearly gets run over. He finds Henk and apologizes about his tardiness.

The two decide to use Johan's clog to drift over the river to the Plaspoelpolder. Henk asks when Johan is going to get married. Johan thinks he's still too young, but just as he says that he hears singing from in the distance and Johan starts swooning. Johan paddles to the shore and finds Anna van de Polder under a tree picking daisies. Henk introduces Johan to Anna. Before long both of them are sitting affectionately beneath a tree. Filled with love, Johan starts writing poetry until late at night.

The next morning, Johan wakes up hears Anna's voice in the distance. He heads toward her but quickly returns to the river to clean himself and brush his teeth. As he approaches Anna, he sees another duck has engages her in conversation. Soon after, a second duck on a motorcycle arrives. Both ducks start arguing over Anna's affection, which leads to a brawl between them. Anna walks away from the scene, and Johan approaches her, offering her a flower. In return, Anna kisses him. Elated, Johan proposes to Anna. Anna says yes and not too long after on a Wednesday afternoon, they get married and have 7 eggs.

Meanwhile in the office of the Beton Maatschappij plans are being made to turn the pasture into a theme park.

Anna asks Johan to watch the eggs while she does some groceries. Then, Schor de Kraai and Miriam Merel judge the eggs, loudly proclaiming they will likely spoil before hatching. Angered, Johan takes back the egg Schor is holding. At that moment, Rap, disguised as a bush, sneaks in and steals an egg. Johan chases after Rap, who bumps into Henk, causing the egg to soar into the air. The egg bounces off the tennis racket of one of the brawling ducks, onto the roof of K. Rokodil and Olaf Nijlpaard's car and lands in the water. Johan is able to retreive it before it hits the bottom.

Johan about to grab the egg that will become Alfred Jodocus Kwak from Schor de Kraai's hands.

Anna tells Johan that she's missing an egg. Johan confidently reassures her that the egg is safe, but when he shows her, only pieces of the shell remain. Henk then soon spots a duckling nearby and Johan and Anna run to help the duckling back home. Henk suggests naming him after his grandfather, Alfred de Mol, who also ran away when he was young and was called a Jodocus. They name the duckling Alfred Jodocus Kwak. Just as they make the decision, Alfred’s other brothers and sisters hatch.

As the ducklings are getting named, Alfred gets distracted and escapes from the clog. Rap sets his sights on Alfred and begins stalking him, but Johan catches on and intervenes, beating Rap up.

Alfred is returned to his family, but suddenly, the clog and the ground around them begin to rise, lifted by a giant excavator. The neighborhood is filled with construction machinery tearing up the land. Henk, Anna, Johan and their children cannot possibly stay living here. They decide to emigrate to Groot Waterland.

Continuity

This book retells the story of Episode 1 of the animated series. Please check that page for more info.

• Johan Sebastiaan Kwak's character, like his son, has a significant connection to dreams.

Errata

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Cast

Character gallery

The characters in order of appearance.

• 
  Henk de Mol
• 
  Johan Sebastiaan Kwak
• 
  Anna van de Polder
• 
  Jan van de Polder (not named)
• 
  Stip (not named)
• 
  Stap (not named)
• 
  Henri Dropshot (not named)
• 
  Johnny Hollyday (not named)
• 
  Rap de Kiekendief
• 
  Olaf Nijlpaard (not named)
• 
  A. Rokodil (not named)
• 
  Bart 'Beton' Bever
• 
  Schor de Kraai
• 
  Miriam Merel (not named)
• 
  Alfred Jodocus Kwak
• 
  Alfred de Mol (mentioned)
• 
  Alfred's brothers and sisters

Locations

• 
  Plaspoelpolder
• 
  Beton Maatschappij office
• 
  Groot Speelgoedland

Main staff list

© 1989 Harlekijn/Van Veen/Bacher & Siepermann
Exclusive license given by Benelux Licensing Group/Telecable
© 1989 text songs Harlekijn Holland bv
For this release © 1991 Uitgeverij M & P bv
Postbus 566, 6000 AL Weert

Cover design: Teo van Gerwen
Cover illustration: Hans Bacher, Harald Siepermann
Text: Herman van Veen with illustrations by Hans Bacher and Harald Siepermann
Typesetting and layout: M & P Tekst bv, Weert

ISBN: 90 359 0105 3
CIP
NUGI 223
Printed in Italy by Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri S.pA., Milan

Comparison of the two covers between both version of the books.

Production notes

The 13 cels used for the artwork on the inside of the book are all cropped to fit the frame of the book. On some of them the end of the artwork, especially for the background, can be seen. The cel on page 13 is for sale at Harlekijn Holland.

This book is a mini version of the previously released De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: De zeven eieren, but in a smaller format, namely 13 cms. For unknown reasons the original artwork on the cover of De zeven eieren was replaced by the animation cel that was also used for the Dutch VHS's SKV 037 De eieren and SKV 145 Classics: De Eieren. The cels on the inside of the book also seem to be color corrected a little more and in some cases the images are sharper and better defined.

Changes from the original

Changes from the original "De zeven eieren (mini)" boek

Some of the pictures have been reframed slightly,and in some pictures the holes for the cels can be seen at the top of the images.

The text from this book is taken from De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: De zeven eieren, but is condensed to fit the smaller format of the book. Several things are changed because of that. Also note that the text from "De zeven eieren" was taken from De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Goedemorgen originally.

• Johan Sebastiaan Kwak does not tell Henk de Mol about his icecream dream in the condensed version.
• The name Woerd is omitted.
• Anna van de Polder and Johan's first conversation together is cut.
• While they appear in pictures, the whole scene with Stip and Stap is cut.
• Johan writes his poetry late at night, instead of in the day.
• Johan going back to the river to brush his teeth after he heard Anna's singing has been cut.
• Instead of asking her to go for a stroll, Johan asks her to marry him.
• A short moment of building up Rap de Kiekendief before Schor de Kraai arrives is cut.
• A sequence of events where Alfred Jodocus Kwak's egg bounces all over the place has been cut short.
• Snel de Snoek has been cut completely.
• A mention of the story continuing in future books is omitted.