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.

Johan hands Anna van der Polder a bouquet on their wedding day.

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.

The two make seven eggs. Johan is extremely nervous about becoming a father as he almost has a heart-attack when Henk de Mol arrives to check in on them. When Henk leaves and Anna has to go to the bathroom, Johan is left with the eggs. First Schor de Kraai and Miriam Merel arrived to judge their eggs. Johan and Schor go back a long time not being able to tolorate eachother.Rap de Kiekendief takes this time of distraction to steal one of Johan's eggs. He chases him, but Rap trips over Henk and the egg drops into water on top of Snel de Snoek. Snel eats the egg, but before he can digest it, Johan drags him out of the water and retrieves the egg from his mouth.

The egg hatches into Anna and his first-born, Alfred Jodocus Kwak. The other six eggs hatch into Josefien, Clara, Marjolein, Hans, Jan and Robbie. Johan almost loses Alfred again when Alfred is distracted and leaves the clog, but luckily he was saved by Henk.

In a state of excitement Johan kisses Henri Dropshot (left) and Johnny Hollyday (right) after Anna van der Polder has given him a kiss.

At that moment the whole polder shakes and construction workers start destroying the meadow that Johan and his family was living in. Frustrated, Johan tries to start a discussion with Olaf Nijlpaard who is the organizer of the building of a big themed park called Sprookjesland. Johan doesn't get through to him and when it turns out Olaf and the Beton Maatschappij have a permit to build here, Johan realizes there is nothing he can do.

Henk convinces Johan to leave his home and emigrate to Groot Waterland and the miner's house of Henk's grandfather, Alfred de Mol. The whole family leaves the Plaspoelpolder on their way to Polderstad. Alfred gets distracted again and Henk chases after him. Just as that happens Johan, Anna and their six other children cross the road and are run over by a car carrying Olaf Nijlpaard and his investor Alfons Rokodil.

Years later, after Henk de Mol has adopted Alfred, he tells the duck about his parents.

As spring arrives in Breed Rietland and the Plaspoelpolder where Johan Sebastiaan Kwak resides, he meets his long-time friend Henk de Mol as they had promised. When the topic of marriage arises, Johan states that he is definitely not ready for such commitments. Shortly after, he hears the sound of Anna van de Polder singing. Henk introduces them, and Johan falls in love. Nervously stumbling over his words, Johan becomes overwhelmed and runs off before Anna has a chance to get to know him.

Johan hands Anna van de Polder a bouquet on their wedding day.

The following day, he hears Anna singing again and quickly freshens up before approaching her. He finds Henri Dropshot and Johnny Hollyday attempting to court Anna. Johan becomes angry, but before he can intervene, Henri and Johnny start fighting, leaving Anna open to talk. Johan brings her some flowers, including ones he had previously seen her carrying. Anna rewards him with a small kiss.

Soon after, Johan and Anna become a couple and eventually marry. Their small wedding includes Henk as Johan's witness and the great-great-great-grandmother of Amanda de Vlinder as Anna's witness.

The couple produces seven eggs. Johan grows extremely nervous about becoming a father, nearly having a heart attack when Henk de Mol visits to check on them. After Henk leaves and Anna steps away, Johan is left alone with the eggs. During this time, Schor de Kraai and Miriam Merel arrive to judge the eggs. Johan and Schor share a long-standing mutual disdain. Rap de Kiekendief uses this distraction to steal one of the eggs. Johan chases him, but Rap trips over Henk, causing the egg to fall into water atop Snel de Snoek. Snel swallows the egg, but Johan retrieves it from his mouth before it is digested.

The egg hatches into Johan and Anna's first-born, Alfred Jodocus Kwak. The remaining six eggs hatch into Josefien, Clara, Marjolein, Hans, Jan, and Robbie. Johan almost loses Alfred again when the duckling becomes distracted and leaves the clog, but Henk saves him.

In a state of excitement, Johan kisses Henri Dropshot (left) and Johnny Hollyday (right) after Anna van de Polder gives him a kiss.

At that moment, the entire polder shakes as construction workers begin destroying the meadow where Johan and his family live. Frustrated, Johan tries to reason with Olaf Nijlpaard, who is overseeing the construction of a large theme park called Sprookjesland. Johan's pleas are unsuccessful, and when he learns that Olaf and the Beton Maatschappij have a permit to build there, he realizes there is nothing he can do.

Henk convinces Johan to leave their home and emigrate to Groot Waterland to live in the miner's house of Henk's grandfather, Alfred de Mol. The entire family departs the Plaspoelpolder en route to Polderstad. Alfred becomes distracted, prompting Henk to chase after him. Meanwhile, Johan, Anna, and their six other children cross the road and are struck by a car carrying Olaf Nijlpaard and his investor Alfons Rokodil.

Years later, after adopting Alfred, Henk de Mol recounts the story of Johan and Anna to the young duck.

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.