Alfred's brothers and sisters: Difference between revisions

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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 [[Alfred J. Kwak|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 [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TertiarySexualCharacteristics tertiary sexual characterstic]<ref>{{CiteBook|CCD}}</ref>.
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 [[Alfred J. Kwak|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 [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TertiarySexualCharacteristics tertiary sexual characterstic]<ref>{{CiteBook|CCD}}</ref>.


In the Dutch and German version of the animated series, Alfred's siblings are, seem to be voiced by [[Marlous Fluitsma]] in [[Alfred J. Kwak Episode 1|Episode 1]] and by [[Ryan van den Akker]] in [[Alfred J. Kwak Episode 2|Episode 2]]. Apart from making noises they have little to no dialogue, however in [[Alfred J. Kwak Filmstripboek Deel 1]], in the retelling of [[Alfred J. Kwak Episode 1|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.
Apart from making noises they have little to no dialogue, however in [[Alfred J. Kwak Filmstripboek Deel 1]], in the retelling of [[Alfred J. Kwak Episode 1|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.


==Notes==
==Notes==

Revision as of 01:22, 9 December 2024

Alfred's brothers and sisters
Characters
"Johan Sebastiaan Kwak"
Alfred and his 6 siblings in Episode 1
SpeciesDuck
BirthplaceBreed Rietland
First appearanceEpisode 1
Character Model Sheet number15/1[1]
Character Model Sheet nameAlfred's Broers en Zussen (lit. Alfreds brothers and sisters)
Names in different languages
Dutch namesClara, Hans, Jan, Josefien, Marjolein and Robert
Japanese namesUnknown
German namesUnknown
English namesUnknown

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[2][3][4]. 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[5].

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[6][7].

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.

Hans

Hans was the biggest and the toughest of Alfred's siblings. He was said to be named after Anna's father[note 1]. Hans was always hungry and always wanted a double portion of 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[note 2]. Jan was alwayscalm by nature.

Josefien

Josefien is described as having a little black spot. 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. Robert was named after Robert Kwak, Johan's father.[6][7]

Storyline

Clara, Hans, Jan, Josefien, Marjolein and Robert were born, just after Alfred Jodocus Kwak, to parents Johan Sebastiaan Kwak and Anna van de Polder. Their oldest brother, Alfred, would sometimes leave the nest to explore, only for Henk de Mol, Johan's friend, and Johan himself would return him. Just after Alfred was returned, all the kids and their father were raised up, living clog and all into the sky by an excavator owned by the Beton Maatschappij. Their father kept them safe and made sure they wouldn't fall to the ground. He would protest, but as the project manager Olaf Nijlpaard had permits to build in their home, the Plaspoelpolder, they were forced to watch from a distance as Groot Speelgoed Land was being built.

A few days later the family leaves for Groot Waterland, on their way to start a new living in Henk de Mol's grandfather's mining house near Polderstad. All seven ducklings walk after Johan and Anna who are carrying the living clog. From a distance the kids are scared when the fireworks start meaning the opening of Groot Speelgoed Land. They carry on the journey after a small break, and when it starts raining, four of the seven kids are put into the clog by Anna. On the way Alfred gets distracted by a frog and Henk chases after him.

Family Tree

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


Alfred de MolMarjolein de Mol
Robert KwakMarjolein KwakJan "Woerd" van de PolderJosefien van de PolderHenk's parent
Johan Sebastiaan KwakAnna van de PolderJan van de Polder JuniorHenk de MolKwa WanaBlanche Wana
Clara KwakHans KwakJan KwakJosefien KwakMarjolein KwakRobert "Robbie" KwakAlfred Jodocus KwakWinnie Mandoline WanaTom Wana


Voice actors

Japanese ¦ Unknown ¦ Unknown
Dutch ¦ Marlous Fluitsma ¦ Clara, Hans, Jan, Josefien, Marjolein and Robert
German ¦ Unknown ¦ Unknown
English ¦ Unknown ¦ Unknown

Appearances

TV Series

Audio

Books

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[8], 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[9].

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.

Notes

  1. ↑ In the animated series, Jan van de Polder is identified as Anna's father, a name provided by Henk de Mol. However, the books assign him a different name. In De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Goedemorgen and De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: De zeven eieren, he is referred to as Woerd. De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak elaborates further, naming him Hans Woerd van de Polder, mentioning that people usually refer to him as Woerd. As De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak is narrated by Henk de Mol, it could be interpreted that Henk inadvertently swapped the names of Jan and Hans. Additionally, Woerd may be a nickname used to differentiate him from his son, who could then be referred to as Jan van de Polder Junior to align the various versions of the story. Hans could either be another sibling, or Jan van de Polder Junior could actually be called Hans van de Polder.
  2. ↑ Check previous note for more info.

References

  1. ↑ Siepermann, Harald; Bacher, Hans (1988). Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak. Duesseldorf - West-Germany.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ↑ "De eieren". Alfred J. Kwak. Season 1. Episode 1. April 3, 1989. TV Tokyo.
  3. ↑ van Veen, Herman (1989). De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Goedemorgen. Artwork by Harald Siepermann & Hans Bacher. Soest: Harlekijn Uitgeverij. ISBN 9063860706.
  4. ↑ van Veen, Herman; Holzhaus, Hanneke (1991). De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak [The Dream of Alfred Jodocus Kwak] (in Nederlands). Soest, the Netherlands: Harlekijn, Westbroek. ISBN 9063860862.
  5. ↑ "Het verjaardagsfeestje". Alfred J. Kwak. Season 1. Episode 2. April 10, 1989. TV Tokyo.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 van Veen, Herman (1989). De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Goedemorgen. Artwork by Harald Siepermann & Hans Bacher. Soest: Harlekijn Uitgeverij. ISBN 9063860706. Page 102 and 103
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 van Veen, Herman; Holzhaus, Hanneke (1991). De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak [The Dream of Alfred Jodocus Kwak] (in Nederlands). Soest, the Netherlands: Harlekijn, Westbroek. ISBN 9063860862. Page 25
  8. ↑ Harald Siepermann (16 October 2005). "The original treatment of the first TV-episode". alfredjkwak.blogspot.com.
  9. ↑ Siepermann, Harald; Bacher, Hans (1988). Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak. Duesseldorf - West-Germany.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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