Alfred J. Kwak Opening

The opening animation for Alfred J. Kwak. It is first seen on the first episode of the first season, which was first aired in Japan on TV Tokyo on 3 April 1989 in the Monday 17:00 - 17:30 slot, accompanied by the song Yakusoku Dayo "Kwak's Song" and animation-wise remains consistent through the entire run of the animated series.

Summary

The camera zooms in on a red hardcover book resting on a wooden table. The red book has a circle in the center, within the circle, Alfred's head facing back. Surrounding the book are various objects: other books, pencils, a fountain pen, an eraser, a ruler, paper and under the book; lined paper.

As the camera has focused on only the front of the book, Alfred turns around, quacks twice, and, from within the circle, pulls out a material and places it swiftly in front of him. The red letters "ALFRED J. KWAK", drop on top of the material and heads of the characters Professor Paljass, K. Rokodil, Kapitein Olaf Stoppel, Henk de Mol, Wisal, Dolf, Hannibal Nijlpaard and Winnie Wana surround Alfred Jodocus Kwak around the circle, forming the logo of the series.

The book opens to reveal an overhead shot of Groot Waterland. The camera zooming in, fading into a shot of Henk's home and then inside, where Alfred and Henk are playing chess.

Alfred and Henk playing chess.

Alfred looks tired and by the end of the scene, he has fallen asleep. As he drifts into a dream, the scene fades, and Alfred is now floating beside the chess pieces de Witte Koningin and Het Schaakspel.

Suddenly, Alfred floats trough the chessboard. He then drops into the depths of the sea, and narrowly manages to dodge the rostrum of Wiede Wagen, a large sawfish. Behind him, a massive whale also appears. Alfred turns to face the camera once again, smiling.

Alfred then fades out of the scene and finds himself in de Jungle van Sinatra, falling onto the howdah of a walking Olifant. Alfred is visibly enjoying riding the Olifant, but then, a mysterious hand, belonging to the Heksenpriester, emerges from the top left of the frame. The hand tries to grab Alfred, failing the first time. But on the second attempt, successfully seizing Alfred by the head, gripping him between the ring and index fingers. Heksenpriester pulls him into a hellish world and casts a blinding beam of light into his face.

The beam appears to transport Alfred, now in a space suit, into outer space. In the next scenes, Alfred switches between his various costumes.

Henk smiles at the camera and leaps onto Alfred's back. Alfred quacks twice once more, and the scene fades to black.

Animation breakdown

Screenshots & Description	Cut #	Lyrics/SFX	Inspiration/Reference
The camera zooms in on a red hardcover book resting on a wooden table. The red book has a circle in the center, within the circle, Alfred's head facing back. Surrounding the book are various objects: other books, pencils, a fountain pen, an eraser, a ruler, paper and under the book; lined paper.	001a		The red book on this table is likely a behind-the-scenes reference to the Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak book by Harald Siepermann and Hans Bacher which shared a very similar red cover. Specifically note that this book reads from left-to-right, while most books in Japan read from right-to-left. Finally, a grand majority of the cuts in the opening are based on pictures found in this book, which makes this the most likely reference. The accessories surrounding the book might well be what a desk looked like at the animation studio.
As the camera has focused on only the front of the book, Alfred turns around, quacks twice, and, from within the circle, pulls out a scroll banner and places it swiftly in front of him. The red letters "ALFRED J. KWAK", drop on top of the material and heads of the characters Professor Paljas, Kaspar Rokodil, Kapitein Olaf Stoppel, Henk de Mol, Noël de Uil, Dolf de Kraai (wearing his Kraaienpartij uniform, Hannibal Nijlpaard and Winnie Mandoline Wana surround Alfred Jodocus Kwak around the circle, forming the logo of the series.	001b	quack quack	The original logo was drawn by Harald Siepermann and Hans Bacher specifically as one of the logo's for the animated series. In this version you can see that Kaspar Rokodil has not been miscoloured, like he is in the animated series opening. The original has all spaces inside the letters of the title filled in with black, however this doesn't translate as well in the animated version.
A water color background of Polderstad is slowly zoomed into. At the top you can see the tower(??) and at the bottom at the edge of picture you can see Alfred's house.	002	君の夢の中 Kimi no yume no naka Inside of your dream	Likely based on production material showing Polderstad similar to this spread found on the inside of the cover of De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Goedemorgen. In the above picture you can see Henk's mine house in the corner, but in the episode it's just offscreen.
A watare color background of Henk's mine house is slowly zoomed into.	003	始まる物語 hajimaru monogatari a story begins 空も木も星も素敵なお友達 Sora mo ki mo hoshi mo suteki na otomodachi The sky, the trees, and the stars are all your wonderful friends	Inspiration unknown.
Alfred and Henk are playing chess. Alfred looks too big for the tiny chair he's sitting in. While Henk is struggling to think of the right move, Alfred looks tired waiting for him and by the end of the scene, he has fallen asleep. As he drifts into a dream, the scene fades.	004	ほら僕と一緒に歌おう Hora boku to issho ni utaō Now then, sing together with me	In a scene based on the idea of episode 12, which was likely not yet in production as this opening was developed. However, instead of the scene set in Alfred's house it's set in Henk's mine house. As in the episode, Alfred dozes off.
Alfred is seen floating in a space with a chess board in the background, while the Chess Queen and a few Chess Pieces are floating by, indicating that Alfred is dreaming about his chess game with his father.	005	不思議なこと知らないこと Fushigi na koto shiranai koto Those mysterious things and those unknown things	We continue into Alfred's dream. The lifeless images of the Chess Queen and a few Chess Pieces floating by are depicted exactly as their character designs from Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak. These images have not been released publically.
As the chess board turns blue Alfred falls into the next scene, which is a representation of the ocean.	006a	見つけたら僕等のもの Mitsuketara bokura no mono When we find them, they'll be ours	Cut 006 references the scene where Alfred almost drowns and while being unconscious dreams about living underwater, trying to find his father, from episode 15. The first part of the animation is based on panels from the comic book De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Vissen in troebel water that can be found on page 38, from a scene that tells the same story as is in episode 15.
Alfred bobs slightly upward as the long saw nose of Wiede Wagen enters frame.	006b		Curiously the next reference is to the panel that's before the previous panel from De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Vissen in troebel water on page 38. As it's normal for Japanese people to read comic books from right-to-left, it might have accidentally informed how this sequence was viewed in the original comic.
Wiede Wagen swims in from the left into the foreground, almost covering the entire screen.	006c	始めの一歩明日も一歩 Hajime no ippo ashita mo ippo Through your first steps and tomorrow's steps	The depiction of Wiede Wagen is exactly the same as his character sheet from Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak, namely sheet 78. This sheet was drawn in May of 1988. This character sheet has not been released publically.
Wiede Wagen wipes the screen and reveals Els in the background with Alfred floating, depicted very tiny in comparison to the enormous whale. Alfred fades away into the blue of the ocean.	006d	仲間なら約束だよ Nakama nara yakusoku da yo If we're friends, it's a promise	The depiction of Els is exactly the same as her character sheet from Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak, namely sheet 194. This sheet was drawn in July of 1988. This character sheet has not been released publically.
Alfred drops into the a basket on the back of a huge brown Elephant, after gently floating above it. Alfred sways in the basket on the rhythm of the walking Elephant	007	泣きそうな時挫けた時 Nakisou na toki kujiketa toki When you feel like crying, when you're discouraged 信じれば勇気が出る Shinjireba yuuki ga deru If you believe, courage will come	The character design as well as the background comes directly from Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak sheet 163A and 163. 163A features the background, while 163 just has Alfred and the Elephant solo on a white background. The version depicted here is from page 331 of De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: Het grote voorleesboek where it is re-used.
A long nailed claw elegantly picks Alfred up. The background changes to red with grey clouds developing from under the huge dark monster that seems to put a spell on Alfred that turns into a big flash.	008	大きくなれ優しくなれ Ookiku nare yasashiku nare Grow big, grow kind	This cut shows an unused character design from the Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak, namely sheet 158 called Heksenpriester who was cut from episode 39. This sheet was made in August of 1988.
	009	仲間なら Nakama nara If we're friends...
	010	約束だよ yakusoku da yo ...it's a promise
	011	La, la, la, la, la, la
	012	La, la, la, la, la, la
	013	La, la, la, la, la, la
	014a	La, la, la, la, la, la
	014b	La, la, la, la, la, la
	014c	quack quack

Errata

• In the first Japanese episode, song lyrics appear to be missing
• The Finnish version includes extended Dutch-language credits (Additional text after the Heksenpriester-scene)

Production

The animation is heavily based on illustrations and designs that are found in the Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak book. Apart from the book, no production material regarding the intro has yet been produced or seen online.

• 
  Heksenpriester and Alfred Jodocus Kwak
• 
  Alfred's various costumes (Crow Party costume being the only one not present in the intro or series)
• 
  More costumes, including his sailor outfit and his clown outfit.

Sound

Music

Below is a table with the music used in the opening, separated by language.

Language	Title	Literal Translation	Wiki ID
Japanese	Yakusoku Dayo "Kwak's Song"	It's a Promise	M-1B
Dutch	Spetter Pieter Pater	Splash, pitter, patter	M-2B