Miriam Merel

Miriam Merel
Character
Miriam in Episode 1
Species	Thrush
Birthplace	Breed Rietland
First appearance	Episode 1
Character Model Sheet number	50/5 (sheet 36)
Character Model Sheet name	Dolf's Moeder
Name in different languages
Dutch name	Miriam Merel / Esther
Japanese name	ニコルの妻 (Nikoru no tsuma) Nicol's wife
German name	Kra Mutter
English name	Dolf's mother

Miriam Merel's character design appears in episodes beyond episode 5, which should not be possible as her son, Dolf de Kraai, mentions to Alfred Jodocus Kwak that his mother is dead. As many character designs are re-used frequently in other episodes, this is most likely a continuation of the trend rather than a part of Miriam's story.

Miriam Merel, or Esther is a fictional character who is the mother of Dolf de Kraai and husband of Schor de Kraai. She is almost always referred to as "Dolf's mother", for example in the Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak book, but she get a name in two different books; she is called Miriam Merel in De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak and Esther in the Dutch version of Alfred J. Kwak Mijn avontuurlijke leven, but stays unnamed in the original German version.

After moving from Breed Rietland to Groot Waterland she loses her life as she is coaxed into flying into the Stompe Toren. She is believed to have committed suicide.

Appearance

Miriam is a dark feathered thrush with a small yellow beak and greying hair wrapped up in to a bun on each side of her face. She has an hourglass figure and small stature. Her eyes have big eyelashes.

In the only instance we see her in, she wears a Bavarian inspired outfit, similar to her husband Schor de Kraai. She wears a dirndl, which is a dress traditionally worn by women and girls in some Alpine regions of Austria, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The outfit consists of a bodice, skirt and blouse, but is missing the classical apron. The bodice is dark with yellow rims and a deep neckline. On her character sheet there are flowers embroidered onto it, however these aren't visible in the episode she appears in and instead she has red dots over the back of it. The skirt is dark red with a lighter red underskirt. The blouse is white with frilly edges and puffed shoulders. She also wears a traditional hat with a red pompom on it.

On the character design sketch for Miriam, the word "dirndl" is written next to her.

Sketches for Miriam's character sheet with the word dirndl on it to reference the clothing. She appears here without a hat and the flowers on her bodice are real instead of embroidered.

Personality

Miriam in the animated series follows her husband, Schor de Kraai's resentment of others and judges Anna van de Polder and Johan Sebastiaan Kwak's eggs. She's cynical about others, but uplifts herself and Schor.

In the book De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak Miriam is portrayed as having a very troubled relationship with the domineering Schor. Schor was contemptuous towards Miriam for having her deliver a colored child. Miriam also struggled with bouts of depression and disillusionment with her situation, becoming frail and mentally unstable.

Storyline

Woman wearing dirndl with spring flowers.

In episode 1 she joins her husband in his diatribe of Johan Sebastiaan Kwak and Anna van de Polder's eggs and comes off quite combative herself. She seems to just default to agree-ing with Schor de Kraai as even at the end they speak in unison when Anna comes back and asks what is wrong.

In the book De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak Schor brought her to Anna and Johan's nest to show her a better nest as she was only able to lay one egg. Miriam was deeply troubled about this, pleading to go back to her son Dolf de Kraai who was all alone.

Her relationship with Schor continued to deteriorate, as well as her own mental state, as they moved to Groot Waterland. There Miriam had trouble to make ends meet, as Schor wasn't taking up any sort of work. This depression only angered Schor, and he encouraged her to commit suicide.

Miriam Merel and her husband Schor de Kraai confronting Johan Sebastiaan Kwak about his eggs, with a claw from Rap de Kiekendief, from the book De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Goedemorgen

Voice actors

Japanese	¦	鈴木 れい子 (Reiko Suzuki)	¦	ニコルの妻 (Nikoru no tsuma) Nicol's wife
Dutch	¦	Doris Baaten	¦	Miriam Merel
German	¦	Eva Maria Miner	¦	Mutter Kra
English	¦	Unknown	¦	Dolf's mother

Appearances

TV Series

• 
  Alfred J. Kwak Episode 1

Books

• 
  De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Goedemorgen (1989) (Dutch)
• 
  De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: De zeven eieren (1989) (Dutch)
• 
  De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: Omnibus 1 (1989) (Dutch)
• 
  De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: De zeven eieren (mini) (1990) (Dutch)
• 
  De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak (1991) (Dutch)
• 
  Alfred J. Kwak Filmstripboek Deel 1 (2006) (Dutch)
• 
  De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: Het Grote Voorleesboek (2010) (Dutch)

Production background

Miriam gets her name from the book De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak, but she gets a different name in the translated version of Alfred J. Kwak : mein abenteuerliches Leben, Alfred Jodocus Kwak - Mijn avontuurlijke leven, namely Esther. It is unknown why there is a discrepancy, but because a considerable amount of the former book is dedicated to fleshing out this character, the Miriam Merel name has taken precedence.

Miriam Merel's character design can be found on sheet 36 of the Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak book under the name "Dolf's Moeder" (lit. "Dolf's Mother"). According to her sheet she was set to appear in episode 5 and episode 6. In the final product she was instead only featured in episode 1 as Dolf's mother.

Her character design reused for other characters in episode 6 in the audience, episode 11 as a random passerby in the beginning of the episode, and episode 27 as a passenger traveling on the same train as Alfred.

Miriam Merel's character design from the Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak book.