| Line 538: | Line 538: | ||
===Character Designs=== | ===Character Designs=== | ||
Several character designs specific to this episode were shown in the behind-the-scenes documentary [[Wie wird eine Ente zum Fernsehstar? - Die Entstehung der Zeichentrickfigur Alfred J. Kwak]] when someone is flipping through the [[Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak]] book. On these sheets we can see that the | |||
===Storyboards=== | |||
===Animation=== | ===Animation=== | ||
| Alfred J. Kwak 初めてのバースデー (Hajimete no bāsudē) "First birthday" | |
|---|---|
| ← Season 1, Episode 2 → | |
| |
Animation Staff | |
| Episode direction | Shigeo Koshi |
| Animation direction | Osamu Kamijō |
| Episode storyboards | Hiroshi Saitō |
| Screenplay | Akira Miyazaki |
| Music | Herman van Veen Erik van der Wurff Nard Reijnders |
| Sound director | Shigeharu Shiba |
| Running time | 25 min |
| Original airdate | 10/4/1989 (Japan) |
| Original production episode number | 2 |
"Het verjaardagsfeestje" (lit: The Birthday Party) or "初めてのバースデー" (Hajimete no bāsudē; lit: First birthday) Is the 2nd episode of Alfred J. Kwak's first season. The episode first aired in Japan on TV Tokyo on 10 April 1989 in the Monday 17:00 - 17:30 slot. The episode picks up the story directly from the events of the previous episode and concludes with a cliffhanger that leads into the next episode.
Johan Sebastiaan Kwak, Anna van de Polder, and their children begin their emigration from Breed Rietland to Groot Waterland, bringing their living clog with them. They are accompanied by Henk de Mol, who once again shows Johan the photograph of his grandfather, with the mine house visible in the image. Johan comments that the place must be very quiet. Behind them, fireworks illuminate the sky, marking the official opening of the theme park Groot Speelgoedland. Johan becomes visibly upset, but Anna calms him. Their son, Alfred Jodocus Kwak, is momentarily distracted by a butterfly and wanders off. Henk chases after him, leaving behind the photograph, which Johan then stores safely under his hat. As they continue walking, Anna quietly expresses her disapproval of the Beton Maatschappij.
At the Beton Maatschappij office, Alfons Rokodil, Olaf Nijlpaard, and Bart 'Beton' Bever boast about the profits made on Groot Speelgoedland’s opening day. As they prepare to deposit the earnings at the bank, their car backs into a statue in the courtyard before speeding off, leaving Bart behind.
As the weather worsens and heavy rain begins to fall, Johan and his family prepare to cross the road into Groot Waterland. Alfred spots a frog and runs off after it, with Henk in pursuit.
Meanwhile, Rokodil and Nijlpaard are distracted by the radio when a sudden lightning strike startles them, causing their car to veer off course. They strike Johan, Anna, and their children as they are crossing the road. The car does not stop and drives on. From a distance, Henk hears the accident and rushes to the road. All that remains is the living clog and the photograph of his grandfather’s mine. Alfred, now by Henk’s side, is unable to fully grasp what has happened. Henk attempts to comfort him.
Some time later, Henk finds Alfred sitting outside the mine house. Although they have now settled in, Alfred refuses to eat. Henk gently encourages him, warning that if he doesn't eat, he may fall ill—something his parents would certainly not have wanted. As Alfred reluctantly returns to the house, Henk reflects on his new responsibility, stating that he will raise Alfred until adulthood. He adds that he will serve as both mother and father to him, but admits there is one thing he cannot teach: how to swim.
The months and the seasons pass and on Alfred's first birthday Henk prepares a party. In the morning he prepares the table with a present and checks to see if Alfred's already awake. Alfred would love to sleep in a little and Henk lets him.
In Polderstad, Pikkie de Ekster flies erratically and crash-lands at the door of the house of Ollie de Ooievaar. Ollie opens the door and invites Pikkie in. Curious about what Ollie has prepared as a present for Alfred, Pikkie asks, but Ollie keeps it a secret. Pikkie then reveals the silver spoon he intends to give as a gift, admiring its beauty.
Ollie and Pikkie depart together for the mine house, where they arrive alongside Hannes, Wannes, and the sparrow triplets, and are welcomed by Henk de Mol. The festivities begin with cake, drinks, and a few party poppers, followed by a game of Game of the Goose.
When Henk opens a window, sunlight reflects off a key worn by one of the sparrow triplets on a rope around their neck. Pikkie begins to hallucinate, imagining the key speaking to her and urging her to take it. She and the sparrow tug on the rope until it snaps. Snapped out of her trance, Pikkie is confused, as are the others. Henk speculates that this may be an instinctive reaction due to Pikkie being a magpie, something Pikkie herself hears for the first time. Before the conversation can continue, a bus horn is heard from outside.
Henk’s present for Alfred is a group visit to the King's castle. During the bus ride, the children ask whether they will get to see the King, but Henk explains that they likely won’t. According to him, the King is usually out hunting on Wednesdays, as that is the day when many tourists visit the castle.
The King is out hunting, carried in a litter by his hunters, and accompanied by a grumpy Jonkheer Das. During the excursion, the King destroys a sign intended to warn outsiders of royal hunting activity. Mistaking the honking of a passing bus for the call of a deer in heat, he prepares to shoot at it—only to be interrupted when one of the hunters trips, causing the King to fall from the litter.
Inside the castle, Jonkheer Poen van Kale Koen gives Alfred and his group a guided tour, beginning with a portrait of Otto the Third, depicted near the great castle of Otterdom. Alfred is momentarily distracted by his own reflection in the polished floor and pillars, but Henk de Mol quickly retrieves him, and the group continues into the kitchen. There, the brothers Do, Re and Mi Lano are seen preparing noodles through an elaborate culinary ritual involving a hand-cranked pasta machine.
While the tour guide continues, Alfred encounters one of the King's guards standing completely motionless. Mistaking the guard for a mannequin, Alfred pokes him, only to be startled when the guard suddenly sneezes—prompting Alfred to flee in fright.
The tour continues into the castle's cellar, where Jonkheer Poen displays a fully functioning guillotine to the visitors.
The next stop is the treasury room. Two soldiers stand waiting outside, while inside the vault another two soldiers stand guard, blindfolded as to not be blinded by the pink rays of the crown jewel. This crown jewel is, according to Jonkheer Poen, the most expensive stone on the planet. While the group leaves the treasury room after Jonkheer Poen's story about it has concluded, Pikkie de Ekster remains enthralled by the ruby.
Jonkheer Poen van Kale Koen continues the castle tour by showing the group the King's personal lemonade bath. During this time, Alfred notices that Pikkie de Ekster has gone missing and breaks away from the group to start looking for him.
Suddenly, two masked soldiers burst out of the treasury room: the King's ruby has been stolen. The soldiers pass on the news all the way to the head guard, who immediately orders the drawbridge to be raised and commands all available guards to search for the thief. In the ensuing commotion, soldiers scramble throughout the castle, running past Jonkheer Poen and Alfred’s birthday party group.
While Alfred searches desperately for Pikkie, Pikkie is revealed to be high above in the ceiling rafters, obsessively rolling the ruby along a narrow ledge. Miscalculating, he accidentally sends the ruby tumbling off the ledge, and it lands directly on Alfred's head. Alfred collapses next to the gem. Pikkie, realizing what has happened, looks on from above.
The King's soldiers arrive and, upon seeing Alfred unconscious beside the ruby, declare that they have found the thief. Alfred, confused and disoriented, asks what happened but is immediately shackled to a large iron ball and imprisoned in the castle’s cellar by the jailer. Alfred calls out to his father, insisting he is innocent.
The characters in order of appearance.
| 緒方 賢一 Kenichi Ogata |
¦ | ハンク (Hanku) Hank (Henk de Mol) |
| 吉村 よう Yō Yoshimura |
¦ | ヨハン・クワック (Yohan Kuwakku) Johan Kwak (Johan Sebastiaan Kwak) |
| 安達 忍 Shinobu Adachi |
¦ | アンナ・ポルダー (Anna Porudā) Anna Polder (Anna van de Polder) |
| 神山 卓三 Takuzō Kamiyama |
¦ | ヒポポタマス (Hipopotamasu) Hippopotamus (Olaf Nijlpaard) |
| 立木 文彦 Fumihiko Tachiki |
¦ | クロコダイル (Kurokodairu) Crocodile (Alfons Rokodil) |
| 林原 めぐみ Megumi Hayashibara |
¦ | アルフレッド・ヨードカス・クワック (Arufureddo Yōdokasu Kuwakku) Alfred Jodocus Kwak |
| John Baddeley | ¦ | Hank the Mole (Henk de Mol) |
| Jill Lidstone/Ryan van den Akker | ¦ | Alfred Jonathan Quack (Alfred Jodocus Kwak) |
| Alan Carr Steve Cooke Melvyn Hayes Hugo Myatt Lyn Beardsall to be checked |
¦ | Other voices |
| Roger Carel | ¦ | Henk (Henk de Mol) |
| Evelyne Grandjean | ¦ | Alfred J. Quack (Alfred Jodocus Kwak) |
While for this episode no original outline was publically released, we can surmise from the outline of episode 1 that this episode mostly consisted of the story of Alfred's birthday and subsequent visit to the King's castle, likely ending on the same cliffhanger as the final episode did.
The story of Pikkie de Ekster, which explores how magpies are naturally drawn to steal shiny objects and how someone else may be punished for actions that are instinctive to a magpie but not criminal in intent, bears a striking resemblance to the story of The Thieving Magpie. The most famous performance of this story is the Italian La gazza ladra (lit. The Thieving Magpie). This melodramma is a two-act opera by Gioachino Rossini about a magpie that steals a spoon from the household of Fabrizio Vingradito. One of the servants, Ninetta, is wrongly accused of the theft and sentenced to death. At the last moment, the prison warden and Fabrizio’s manservant discover that a magpie was responsible, saving Ninetta just in time.[1]
This episode appears to reference the opera, with Alfred Jodocus Kwak occupying a role similar to that of Ninetta. Pikkie de Ekster also starts specifically with a silver spoon at the start of the animated episode, solidifying the reference. The ending to the next episode mirrors the ending to the opera as well.
Several character designs specific to this episode were shown in the behind-the-scenes documentary Wie wird eine Ente zum Fernsehstar? - Die Entstehung der Zeichentrickfigur Alfred J. Kwak when someone is flipping through the Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak book. On these sheets we can see that the
The following table is a list of the musical cues used in this episode, accompanied by our in-house wiki ids. The Opening and Ending songs Yakusoku Dayo and Happy Happy are performed by Megumi Hayashibara. A7 / Nog Nooit is sung by Herman van Veen.
| Alfred J. Kwak: Episode 2 Japanese OST | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catalogue | NTSC Time Range | Title | Literal Translation | Wiki ID | |
| OP | 0:00 - 1:30 | Yakusoku Dayo "Kwak's Song" (TV Size) |
It's a Promise | M-1B | |
| TC | 1:31 - 1:36 | M-3A | M-3A | ||
| A1 | Rote Wangen | ' | M-23A(?) | ||
| A2 | Rote Wangen | ||||
| A3 | K. Rokodil | ||||
| A4 | Ben Jij Het? | ||||
| A5 | Untitled Cue | ||||
| A6 | Untitled Cue | ||||
| A7 | Untitled Cue | ||||
| A8 | Untitled Cue | ||||
| A9 | Untitled Cue | ||||
| A10 | De Eendjes En De Tweetjes | ||||
| A11 | Alfred's Verjaardag | ||||
| B1 | Zo Vrolijk | ||||
| B2 | Help Help (Variation) | ||||
| B3 | Untitled Cue | ||||
| B4 | Wat Gebeurt Daar? | ||||
| B5 | Kijk Niet Om | ||||
| EP[note 2] | Unknown | Unknown | M-4A | ||
| ED | TODO | Happy Happy (TV Size) |
Happy Happy | M-5B | |
In the French and Hungarian versions, A7 / Nog Nooit has been left instrumental.
This episode has been released in the following formats.
Several adaptations have been made of the story contained in this episode.
