Johan Sebastiaan Kwak

Johan Sebastiaan Kwak
Character
Johan in Episode 1
Species	Duck
Birthplace	Breed Rietland
First appearance	Episode 1
Character Model Sheet number	4/1
Character Model Sheet name	Johan Kwak
Name in different languages
Dutch Name	Johan Sebastiaan Kwak
Japanese Name	ヨハン・クワック (Yohan Kuwakku)
German Name	Johann Kwak
English	Johan Quack

Born in Groot Waterland, Johan Sebastiaan Kwak, son of Robert Kwak and Marjolein Kwak, is the father of the main protagonist of the series, Alfred Jodocus Kwak as well as six other ducklings. He's married to Anna van de Polder and close friends with Henk de Mol. Johan, his wife, and six of his children get run over by A. Rokodil and Olaf Nijlpaard while crossing a road on their way to Groot Waterland.

Appearance

Johan Kwak is a yellow duck with orange beak and flippers. He usually wears a blue scarf and a blue peaked cap with a soft crown. The appearance of his scarf is slightly different on the cover of De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Goedemorgen where the scarf is striped with a darker blue color, similar to Alfred Jodocus Kwak's scarf. In the Guten Morgen comic his scarf tends more towards light grey.

On both sides of his head he has three hairs. His appearance is modeled after series creator Herman van Veen. This is emphasized by the fact that in the Dutch and German versions of the series he was voiced by Herman van Veen.

Personality

Johan is initially portrayed as a scatterbrained daydreamer who enjoys leading an uneventful life. Described as a free spirit, Johan is characterized by his loyalty to his friends, which is demonstrated by the importance he places on fulfilling his promise to Henk de Mol to meet in spring. Upon meeting Anna van de Polder, Johan becomes nervous and anxious, immediately developing a crush on her. Shortly thereafter, he exhibits a hint of vanity, ensuring that he looks and smells fresh before attempting to court Anna again.

Johan's loyalty to his family is illustrated by the determination he displays in recovering the egg that has fallen from the nest. He becomes angry on two occasions: first at Henri Dropshot and Johnny Hollyday for attempting to court Anna, and later when their pasture is threatened with destruction by the Beton Maatschappij.

Storyline

As spring has reached Breed Rietland and the Plaspoelpolder where Johan Sebastiaan Kwak lives, he meets up with his long time friend Henk de Mol as they had promised. When the topic comes up on marrying he says that he's definitely not ready for things like that. Then he hears the sound of Anna van de Polder singing. Henk introduces him and Johan falls in love. He's anxious and stumbles over his words and before Anna could really get to meet him, he runs off.

The next day he hears her singing again and quickly freshens up before finding Henri Dropshop and Johnny Hollyday trying to court Anna. Johan gets angry, but before he can do anything Henri and Johnny get into a fight and Anna is open. He brings her some flowers, some of which she was seen carrying before, and he gets a little kiss as a reward.

Not long after the two get together and even end up marrying. They have a small wedding, which includes Henk as Johan's witness and the great-great-great-grandmother of Amanda de vlinder as Anna's witness.

Voice actors

Japanese	¦	吉村 よう (Yō Yoshimura)	¦	ヨハン・クワック (Yohan Kuwakku)
Dutch	¦	Herman van Veen	¦	Johan Sebastiaan Kwak
German	¦	Herman van Veen	¦	Johann Kwak
English	¦	???	¦	Johan Quack

Appearances

TV Series

• 
  Alfred J. Kwak Episode 1
• 
  Alfred J. Kwak Episode 2

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)
• 
  Alfred J. Kwak Mijn avontuurlijke leven (1991) (Dutch)
• 
  Alfred J. Kwak Filmstripboek Deel 1 (2006) (Dutch)
• 
  De wonderlijke avonturen van Alfred J. Kwak: Het Grote Voorleesboek (2010) (Dutch)

Production background

Johan Kwak appears on sheet 4 of the Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak book, which was made in March of 1988. As per the outline Herman van Veen wrote, Johan was only set to appear in Episode 1 according to his character sheet, but as the incident that killed him was moved to the first half of Episode 2 he also appeared there.

• 
  Johan Kwak Character Sheet.

Johan’s appearance was modeled after series creator Herman van Veen, who also provided his voice in both the Dutch and German versions of the series. Marlous Fluitsma, Van Veen’s wife, voiced Anna van der Polder in the Dutch and German versions, making Alfred’s parents portrayed by a real-life couple. Some of the lines and sounds from Herman van Veen's Dutch portrayel were kept in the different international versions. For example in the English version of episode 1, just after Johan is kissed by Anna van de Polder the sounds he makes while he jumps up and kisses the other two ducks are taken from the Dutch version.

As Herman van Veen voiced Johan Kwak using his natural voice, unlike the character voices he used for Krabnagel de Kater and Professor Paljas, the songs performed by Johan in the Dutch and German versions can be interpreted as Johan’s wisdom imparted to his son, Alfred Jodocus Kwak, through song.

During the initial storyboard and writing phase of the first few episodes, Hiroshi Saitō, the series director, needed to be personally convinced by Harald Siepermann of the legitimacy of the reasons behind Johan and his family's immigration to a different country. Such actions were considered treasonous in Japanese culture.