Okay, if you're from Holland and you haven't heard of him, I don't envy you. Alfred J. Kwak (Kwak = Quack) is Dutch Childhood. And even if you're not Dutch, it's worth a checking out. It has stunning visuals, great characters, great music, composed by Dutch super-artist Herman van Veen. (Ducktales has nothing on him.)
The story is pretty simple, it's the adventures of a young duck with a red scarf and his foster father, a mole named Henk, in a world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals. (His original family, father mother and quite a lot of brothers/sisters, got run over when they moved from their nest).
The scope of these adventures would range from simple to epic. Serious to silly, surreal to realistic. Yet it all feels the same, it all feels..... Dutch. Seriously, the setting, the characters, some of the social issues adressed, it's as Dutch as you can get. However, one of the series' greatest strengths, especially for a kid's cartoon is that the characters actually grow up and mature. Alfred starts out being recently hatched, goes trough school, becomes a young adult, and the stories seem to grow with him, from things like dealing with bullies to saving the whales from Oil-tycoons. And not just him, the others grow to. His female friend Winnie (Who's an African refugee) grows from female buddy to love interest, and Dolf, a school bully, grows up to be..... an analogy for a certain German Dictator..... no, really, he got the 'stache and everything.
I haven't found any subbed episodes of any kind, so if anyone can find the unsubbed, and is interested.... I would be more then glad to help make a fan-sub happen. It's worth it, so very, very worth it.
As a taste, here's the intro:
Lyrics:
He flies he babbles and he swims
He quacks for you and he quacks for her
He quacks a lot for everyone
And if you sing a song for him
Then he'll dives and plunges and he'll swim
Something for you
Splish Splash Splater
Lovely in the water
You all can go home
He'll be a drop later
((Repeated))
And to make everyone hate me, the outro (It will never leave!):
Lyrics:
Today I am so happy, so happy, so happy
Today I am so happy
As happy as I ever was!
I used to be happy before, very happy, very happy
But so happy as I am now, I never was!
Sometimes he is so sad, so very very sad
Sometimes he is so sad, he's dying of grief
Today I am so happy, so happy, so happy
Today I am so happy
As happy as I ever was!
This post has been edited by P-girl: Sep 28 2009, 5:39 PM