Alfred J. Kwak Opening

The opening animation for Alfred J. Kwak. It is first seen on the first episode of the first season, which was first aired in Japan on TV Tokyo on 3 April 1989 in the Monday 17:00 - 17:30 slot, accompanied by the song Yakusoku Dayo "Kwak's Song" and animation-wise remains consistent through the entire run of the animated series.

Screenshots & Description	Cut #	Lyrics/SFX	Inspiration/Reference
The camera zooms in on a red hardcover book resting on a wooden table. The red book has a circle in the center, within the circle, Alfred's head facing back. Surrounding the book are various objects: other books, pencils, a fountain pen, an eraser, a ruler, paper and under the book; lined paper.	001a		The red book on this table is likely a behind-the-scenes reference to the Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak book by Harald Siepermann and Hans Bacher which shared a very similar red cover. Specifically note that this book reads from left-to-right, while most books in Japan read from right-to-left. The accessories surrounding the book might well be what a desk looked like at the animation studio.
As the camera has focused on only the front of the book, Alfred turns around, quacks twice, and, from within the circle, pulls out a scroll banner and places it swiftly in front of him. The red letters "ALFRED J. KWAK", drop on top of the material and heads of the characters Professor Paljas, Kaspar Rokodil, Kapitein Olaf Stoppel, Henk de Mol, Noël de Uil, Dolf de Kraai (wearing his Kraaienpartij uniform, Hannibal Nijlpaard and Winnie Mandoline Wana surround Alfred Jodocus Kwak around the circle, forming the logo of the series.	001b	quack quack
	002a	Kimi no yume no naka (Inside of your dream)
	002b	hajimaru monogatari (a story begins) Sora mo ki mo hoshi mo suteki na otomodachi (The sky, the trees, and the stars are all your wonderful friends)
	003	Hora boku to issho ni utaō (Now then, sing together with me)	Alfred and Henk are playing chess. Alfred looks tired and by the end of the scene, he has fallen asleep. As he drifts into a dream, the scene fades.
	004	Fushigi na koto shiranai koto (Those mysterious things and those unknown things) Mitsuketara bokura no mono (When we find them, they'll be ours)
	005a	Hajime no ippo ashita mo ippo (Trough your first steps and tomorrow's steps)
	005b	Nakama nara yakusoku da yo (If we're friends, it's a promise)

Screenshots	Cut #	Lyrics/SFX	Description
	001a		The camera zooms in on a red hardcover book resting on a wooden table. The red book has a circle in the center, within the circle, Alfred's head facing back. Surrounding the book are various objects: other books, pencils, a fountain pen, an eraser, a ruler, paper and under the book; lined paper.
	001b	quack quack	As the camera has focused on only the front of the book, Alfred turns around, quacks twice, and, from within the circle, pulls out a material and places it swiftly in front of him. The red letters "ALFRED J. KWAK", drop on top of the material and heads of the characters Professor Paljass, Kaspar Rokodil, Kapitein Olaf Stoppel, Henk de Mol, Wisal de Uil, Dolf de Kraai, Hannibal Nijlpaard and Winnie Wana surround Alfred Jodocus Kwak around the circle, forming the logo of the series.
	002a	Kimi no yume no naka (Inside of your dream)
	002b	hajimaru monogatari (a story begins) Sora mo ki mo hoshi mo suteki na otomodachi (The sky, the trees, and the stars are all your wonderful friends)
	003	Hora boku to issho ni utaō (Now then, sing together with me)	Alfred and Henk are playing chess. Alfred looks tired and by the end of the scene, he has fallen asleep. As he drifts into a dream, the scene fades.
	004	Fushigi na koto shiranai koto (Those mysterious things and those unknown things) Mitsuketara bokura no mono (When we find them, they'll be ours)
	005a	Hajime no ippo ashita mo ippo (Trough your first steps and tomorrow's steps)
	005b	Nakama nara yakusoku da yo (If we're friends, it's a promise)

Story

Summary

The camera zooms in on a red hardcover book resting on a wooden table. The red book has a circle in the center, within the circle, Alfred's head facing back. Surrounding the book are various objects: other books, pencils, a fountain pen, an eraser, a ruler, paper and under the book; lined paper.

As the camera has focused on only the front of the book, Alfred turns around, quacks twice, and, from within the circle, pulls out a material and places it swiftly in front of him. The red letters "ALFRED J. KWAK", drop on top of the material and heads of the characters Professor Paljass, K. Rokodil, Kapitein Olaf Stoppel, Henk de Mol, Wisal, Dolf, Hannibal Nijlpaard and Winnie Wana surround Alfred Jodocus Kwak around the circle, forming the logo of the series.

The book opens to reveal an overhead shot of Groot Waterland. The camera zooming in, fading into a shot of Henk's home and then inside, where Alfred and Henk are playing chess.

Alfred and Henk playing chess.

Alfred looks tired and by the end of the scene, he has fallen asleep. As he drifts into a dream, the scene fades, and Alfred is now floating beside the chess pieces de Witte Koningin and Het Schaakspel.

Suddenly, Alfred floats trough the chessboard. He then drops into the depths of the sea, and narrowly manages to dodge the rostrum of Wiede Wagen, a large sawfish. Behind him, a massive whale also appears. Alfred turns to face the camera once again, smiling.

Alfred then fades out of the scene and finds himself in de Jungle van Sinatra, falling onto the howdah of a walking Olifant. Alfred is visibly enjoying riding the Olifant, but then, a mysterious hand, belonging to the Heksenpriester, emerges from the top left of the frame. The hand tries to grab Alfred, failing the first time. But on the second attempt, successfully seizing Alfred by the head, gripping him between the ring and index fingers. Heksenpriester pulls him into a hellish world and casts a blinding beam of light into his face.

The beam appears to transport Alfred, now in a space suit, into outer space. In the next scenes, Alfred switches between his various costumes.

Henk smiles at the camera and leaps onto Alfred's back. Alfred quacks twice once more, and the scene fades to black.

Errata

• In the first Japanese episode, song lyrics appear to be missing
• The Finnish version includes extended Dutch-language credits (Additional text after the Heksenpriester-scene)

Production

The animation is heavily based on illustrations and designs that are found in the Character- and Color-Designs for Alfred J. Kwak book. Apart from the book, no production material regarding the intro has yet been seen online.

• 
  Heksenpriester and Alfred Jodocus Kwak
• 
  Alfred's various costumes (Crow Party costume being the only one not present in the intro or series)

Sound

Music

Below is a table with the music used in the opening, separated by language.

Language	Title	Literal Translation	Wiki ID
Japanese	Yakusoku Dayo "Kwak's Song"	It's a Promise	M-1B
Dutch	Spetter Pieter Pater	Splash, pitter, patter	M-2B