Alfred J. Kwak Opening

Alfred J. Kwak opening animation
Opening →
Running time	1:30
Original airdate	1989-04-03 (Japan)

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.

Almost all international versions of the series use this animation as their opening sequence, set to a variation of Yakusoku Dayo "Kwak's Song". However, the Italian opening features a different approach: it is set to Cristina D'Avena’s theme song, Niente paura, c'è Alfred!, and consists of a montage of energetic scenes taken from various episodes throughout the 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.

The audience's first look at Alfred’s face occurs in the opening sequence, where he turns toward the camera and quacks twice.

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. Coming full circle, Alfred turns his head like he did at the start and quacks twice once more, and the scene fades to black.

Analysis

The opening sequence of Alfred J. Kwak was almost certainly created shortly after the arrival of the Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak book as that seems to be the main inspiration for the first fut. Fittingly, the sequence opens in a manner that mirrors how the world of the show was introduced to its animators—through the opening of a large red picture book in the center of an animation studio table. On the cover, Alfred is seen with his back turned. He then turns toward the viewer and quacks twice, breaking the fourth wall and revealing several key characters who will appear throughout the animated series. The book opens to bring us into the fiction of the series.

The next cut reveals a painted depiction of Polderstad, with the edges of the frame deliberately left unpainted to create a behind-the-scenes aesthetic. This visual technique continues as the viewer sees Henk de Mol's mine house, similarly framed with edges that fade into white, evoking a misty, dream-like quality.

Alfred and Henk are shown playing chess. In this scene, the chess pieces appear as tiny versions of the chess piece characters introduced later in the series, rather than resembling standard chess pieces as seen in episode 12.

We then see Alfred and Henk playing chess. The chessboard features miniature representations of pieces that would later appear full-size in episode 13. As Alfred falls asleep, he begins to dream, and the larger forms of the chess pieces glide silently across the background while Alfred floats, reinforcing the dream motif. This dream sequence continues with Alfred drifting into the ocean, accompanied by Wiede Wagen the sawfish and Els the whale—a direct reference to the underwater dream sequence in episode 15 and possibly the closing reflection in episode 19, where Alfred and his father remark that their journey to the South Pole felt like a dream.

Alfred then descends further, hovering just before he lands in the basket of an elephant traveling through the jungle on Sinatra Island, a location seen in episode 41. The bobbing animation as he sits in the basket mimics the watery motion from earlier, reinforcing the continuity of the dream-like journey. He is then picked up by a monstrous, unused character originally created for episode 39, a nightmare-themed episode. The creature’s red background and surreal design further emphasize the episode’s and sequence's oneiric tone.

Subsequent vignettes show Alfred in a variety of fantastical costumes and locations. These scenes are presented with backdrops that appear detached from Alfred, as if he is floating in front of staged scenery: he is shown in space, walking on water, as an adventurer, depicted in Middle Eastern garb in prayer near a palace, and at the circus.

The sequence concludes with a mirrored bookend to its beginning: Henk jumps onto Alfred’s back, and Alfred once again turns his head toward the audience and quacks twice. The white-faded background returns, further blurring the boundary between dream, narrative and presentation.

Whether or not the events of the opening are part of a dream is left ambiguous—a theme that runs throughout the entire series. The opening sequence not only introduces characters and settings but also primes the audience to question the nature of reality within the story: is what we see real, a dream, or part of the production itself? And does that matter?

Animation breakdown

Below is a cut for cut breakdown of the entire opening animation.

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. Alfred's exact pose was taken from his character sheet 12D, made in August of 1988 from Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak.
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. On the board the character designs for the white chess pieces can be seen, instead of the standardized chess piece shapes that were depicted in the actual episode.
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. In the background large monstera plants.	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 monstera plants 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.
The flash of light turns into the reflection of Alfred's visor of his space helmet. Alfred dressed in an astronauts suit tumbles away from the camera, doing a little space walk.	009	仲間なら Nakama nara If we're friends...	From this part onwards into the opening sequence we visit several costumes that Alfred wears throughout the series. The first one is his space suit from episode 46. The inspiration is taken directly from the Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak character sheet 12H, made in August of 1988.
A linear wipe reveals the next vignette, which is Alfred walking by with a paddle, wearing a navy beret. He also has his hairs cut. While he waddles his beret slightly bobs on his head.	010	約束だよ yakusoku da yo ...it's a promise	Originally the episodes with the Sea Scouts would have Alfred go into the navy. But as the episode before that, in which Alfred was in university, was cut, Alfred and his friends were aged down for this story and the navy changed into the Sea Scouts. For Alfred this could've possibly been civil service conscription which might've meant he had to serve for a year. The three long hairs being cut short, might also be in reference to having your hair shaved in the military. This design is also taken straight from Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak this time sheet 12F, made in August of 1988, albeit with a slightly different pose.
A linear wipe reveals the next vignette, Alfred wearing a cowboy hat and a bandolier, swiping away with a sword, looking very serious. In the background there are dodo statues.	011	La, la, la, la, la, la	Alfred's costume here is an unused costume that was set to appear in episode 49, but for some reason this was dropped for the episode. As you can see, the only difference is the heavy shadow on Alfred's face is removed, and the slight stubble he has on the sides of his face. His pose is also slightly different. The background here is based on a panel from the comic De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Professor Paljas depicting a short vignette in Alfred's and Henk's journey to the South Pole. They both wonder whether or not these are based on the ancient Dodo's.
A linear wipe reveals the next vignette, Alfred wearing a decorated turban with a shining diamond on top of it, seemingly praying, swaying back and forth.	012	La, la, la, la, la, la	The costume and the pose are taken from Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak namely Sheet 12H, made in August of 1988. This is a reference to how Alfred looks at the end of episode 10.
A small spark, a puff of tan smoke and we fade to a circus background with Alfred in a clown's costume. He blinks twice.	013	La, la, la, la, la, la	The costume and the pose are taken from Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak namely Sheet 12F, made in August of 1988. This is a reference to how Alfred looks in episode 11.
Henk de Mol fades in and wags his index finger, and the background fades to a big tree and a windmill with a white vignette.	014a	La, la, la, la, la, la	This pose is taken almost directly from the comic De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Vissen in troebel water, page 42. Many drawings of Henk would end up on character sheet 1B in Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak.
Henk jumps up all the way onto Alfred's back. Just like at the start Alfred is faced away from us.	014b	La, la, la, la, la, la	This pose was taken from Alfred's character sheet 12D, made in August of 1988 from Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak.
Just like at the start of the opening Alfred turns to face the camera and quacks twice.	014c	quack quack	This pose was likely taken from Alfred's character sheet 12C, made in August of 1988 from Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak.

Errata

• In the first Japanese episode, song lyrics appear to be missing
• In cut 001B Wisal de Uil is depicted with black eyes, instead of red eyes. Kaspar Rokodil is also depicted with the skin color of his father Alfons Rokodil, instead of the correct darker green.
• In cut 004 there are no black chess pieces depicted on the chess board.

Cast

Character Gallery

The characters in order of appearance.

• 
  アルフレッド・ヨードカス・クワック
  Arufureddo Yōdokasu Kuwakku
  (Alfred Jodocus Kwak)
• 
  ドルフ
  Dorufu
  (Dolf)
• 
  ハンニバル博士
  Hannibaru-hakase
  (Professor Hannibal)
• 
  ハンク
  Hanku
  (Hank)
• 
  裁判長ドーイル
  Saibanchō Dōiru
  (Judge Doyle)
• 
  ロコダイル
  Rokodairu
  (Rocodile)
• 
  スタブル船長
  Sutaburu-senchō
  (Captain Stubble)
• 
  バフーン教授
  Bafūn-kyōju
  (Professor Buffon)
• 
  ウィニー・ワナ
  Winī Wana
  (Winnie Wana)
• 
  チェスの女王
  Chesu no Joō
  Chess Queen)
• 
  Chess Pawn
• 
  Chess Knight
• 
  Chess Rook
• 
  Chess Bishop
• 
  バミューダ・ジョージ
  Bamyūda Jōji
  (Bermuda George)
• 
  エルサ
  Erusa
  (Elsa)
• 
  Elephant
• 
  Unnamed unused character

• 
  Alfred Jodocus Kwak
• 
  Dolf de Kraai
• 
  Professor Hannibal Nijlpaard
• 
  Henk de Mol
• 
  Wisal de Uil
• 
  Kaspar Rokodil
• 
  Kapitein Olaf Stoppel
• 
  Professor Paljas van Pinguïn
• 
  Winnie Mandoline Wana
• 
  Chess Queen
• 
  Chess Pawn
• 
  Chess Knight
• 
  Chess Rook
• 
  Chess Bishop
• 
  Wiede Wagen
• 
  Els
• 
  Elephant
• 
  Heksenpriester

• 
  Alfred Jodocus Kwak
• 
  Kra
• 
  Professor Hannibal Tetzlaff
• 
  Maulwurf Henk
• 
  Der Eulenrichter
• 
  Bürgermeister Rokodil
• 
  Kapitän Stoppel
• 
  Professor Paljass
• 
  Winnie Wanna
• 
  Schach Königin (Chess Queen)
• 
  Chess Pawn
• 
  Chess Knight
• 
  Chess Rook
• 
  Chess Bishop
• 
  Bermuda Schorsch
• 
  Elsa
• 
  Elephant
• 
  Unnamed unused character

• 
  Alfred Jodocus Kwak
• 
  Dolf
• 
  Doctor Hannibal
• 
  Henk
• 
  The Judge
• 
  Crocodile
• 
  Captain Stubble
• 
  Professor Buffon
• 
  Winnie Mandoline Wana
• 
  Chess Queen
• 
  Chess Pawn
• 
  Chess Knight
• 
  Chess Rook
• 
  Chess Bishop
• 
  Sawfish George
• 
  Elsa
• 
  Elephant
• 
  Heksenpriester

Locations

• 
  Polder Village
• 
  Henk's mine house
• 
  Chessboard dream space
• 
  Ocean
• 
  The Sinatra Island jungle
• 
  The Moon
• 
  Dodo Island
• 
  The sheikh's palace
• 
  The Circus

• 
  Polderstad
• 
  Henk's mine house
• 
  Chessboard dream space
• 
  Ocean
• 
  The Sinatra Island jungle
• 
  The Moon
• 
  Dodo Island
• 
  Sjeik Al Ham's Palace
• 
  The Circus

• 
  Deichstadt
• 
  Henk's mine house
• 
  Chessboard dream space
• 
  Ocean
• 
  The Sinatra Island jungle
• 
  The Moon
• 
  Dodo Island
• 
  The sheikh's palace
• 
  The Circus

• 
  Poldertown
• 
  Henk's mine house
• 
  Chessboard dream space
• 
  Ocean
• 
  The Sinatra Island jungle
• 
  The Moon
• 
  Dodo Island
• 
  The sheikh's palace
• 
  The Circus

Production

The opening sequence to Alfred J. Kwak provides insight into the early stages of the show's development. It appears to have been created at the start of production, as it includes visual references and concepts drawn directly from the Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak book by Harald Siepermann and Hans Bacher, which served as a key reference for the animation team in Japan. At this early point, the episode order and many titles differed from what ultimately aired, indicating that the opening was animated before the production order was revised.

The change in episode sequencing occurred after the animation team concluded that several of the outlines written by Herman van Veen would not work as self-contained episodes. For example, episode 1 was initially supposed to end with the tragic road incident that resulted in the death of Alfred Jodocus Kwak’s parents and siblings. Due to time constraints or the tonal weight of ending on such a somber moment, the story was restructured—combining episodes 1, 2, and 3 into a single narrative arc.

Another significant change involved an unproduced episode that would have taken place before episode 7 and episode 8, during a period when Alfred attended University. This would have portrayed Alfred as much older, which accounts for his noticeably more mature appearance in cut 010 of the opening sequence.

Wisal de Uil / Noël de Uil

These early production plans also explain some incongruities in the opening sequence. Wisal de Uil, who shares a very similar design with Noël de Uil and was originally intended to be the same character, appears prominently in the title splash, despite only featuring in three episodes. Initially, Wisal was slated to appear in nine episodes, including episode 3 as a judge, the cancelled university episode that was previously mentioned, a likely reprise in episode 20 (although he does not appear in the episode nor in the character line-up), and episode 37 through 38—originally planned as a four-episode arc. He was also expected in episode 51 and episode 52, but was ultimately cut. This planned prominence explains his inclusion in the main cast imagery.

However in Dutch, German, English and Japanese versions, both characters are also played by different voice actors. Furthermore, the character designs are slightly different as Noël has sharp nails, but Wisal doesn't, and while Wisal has big red eyes, Noël has small black eyes. While in the animated version of the logo the character has big black eyes, they are red in the original piece of artwork the logo is based on. We can only conclude that the character in the logo must be a depiction of Wisal de Uil, rather than Noël de Uil, even though likely they were originally intended to be the same character as they shared the same name in Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak.

The Heksenpriester

In cut 008 of the opening, a large monster is shown grabbing Alfred and casting a spell on him. This character, known as the Heksenpriester, was originally intended for Alfred J. Kwak Episode 39, but was cut during production for unknown reasons. Based on its appearance and context, the Heksenpriester was likely part of Alfred’s nightmare sequence and would have likely served as the climax of that dream just before Alfred wakes up.

Other Sources

Beyond the design book, the animation team likely referenced three early comics: De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak, De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Vissen in troebel water, and De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Professor Paljas. While some character designs from these comics were integrated into the Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak book, their influence is still evident in several inclusions of panels into the opening sequence.

Production artwork gallery

• 
  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.
• 
  Alfred's poses from character sheet 12C.
• 
  Alfred's faces from character sheet 12D showing his back, which was used twice in this opening.
• 
  Henk's character sheet, sheet 1B, is largely made up of drawings taken from the comic De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Vissen in troebel water.

Language and Regional Variations

• The music in international versions that is based on Erik van der Wurff and Herman van Veen's interpretation starts a good 3 seconds before the Japanese version.
• The Finnish version includes extended Dutch-language credits (Additional text after the Heksenpriester-scene)

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