Alfred Jodocus Kwak

20th Sept 2007 Goch

2008-01-08T16:14:00.000+01:00

This is a little movie from the opening of my exhibition in Goch on the 20th of Sept 2007, worldchildren's-day. The hords of children you see are from schools and nurseries of the region proclaiming the children's rights.

2007-12-29T18:35:00.001+01:00

Weihnacht ist zum Jahresrest ein sehr weit verbreitet Fest

2007-12-29T18:34:00.000+01:00

Und wieder einmal sind es nicht die kleinen Aufmerksamkeiten, sondern die großen Geldgeschenke, die die meiste Freude bereiten ,
A merry Chrismas to all ...!

Get your very own Alfred J.Kwak-coffeemug today !!!

2007-12-29T18:33:00.000+01:00

I mean it ! I'm on percentage !

Kwak + Stinkefinger

2007-12-09T15:53:00.000+01:00

See the whole clip under the above link, H

2007-10-10T18:47:00.000+02:00

Goch

2007-08-28T08:55:00.000+02:00

Things to come

2007-07-23T10:13:00.000+02:00

H.H. in HH

2007-07-23T10:12:00.001+02:00

He has been a reappearing character in the Kwak-universe for ages. Yesterday I finally saw him in person.
Filthy eastern ways, what do they know ? But seriously,I was impressed.

1989, for the TV series.

2002, Lachen Verboten

2004 Abgemacht ist abgemacht

2007-05-26T15:15:00.001+02:00

Just heard that Alfred J. Kwak is on the list of the most downloaded children's programs on place one, two ,three, four and five.
:)

Kwaktuelles

2007-03-27T09:12:00.000+02:00

Just got these in for review. This would be the final bunch of the DVDs. The Collector's Boxes are also underway and the first episodes are already and still available at your local MediaMarkt or Saturn . Go get'em !

Frohes Fest

2006-12-23T10:00:00.000+01:00

Alfred in the news

2006-09-30T16:29:00.000+02:00

This seems to be from some kind of children's news, I'll find out on monday...or maybe you know more than me.
Anyway, its about the printing of the first comicbooks and the performance of "Ente gut, alles gut" in Soest.
Enjoy, H

Uit het gastenboek van Hermanvanveen.com

2006-09-22T09:05:00.000+02:00

Dankjewel , Louise

Karsten Jahnke

2006-09-15T10:47:00.000+02:00

Theres a nice interview with Karsten Jahnke in "Hamburger Abendblatt".
Aong many other things Karsten started the first concerts with Herman van Veen in the 70's is doing so to this very day.
He also speaks about Herman in this interview, check it out under the above link.

Unicef Austria

2006-09-14T11:37:00.000+02:00

Much more on my other blog ...H

Hans Bacher

2006-09-08T09:19:00.000+02:00

Hans has blogged some very nice older stuff from his überincredible Kwak-artwork, together with some personal memories. Go check it out...on http://its-a-wrap.blogspot.com/

2006-09-04T10:21:00.000+02:00

Klangwolke Linz 1/9/06

2006-08-27T13:44:00.000+02:00

Do you also have problems finding the Alfred J. Kwak DVDs online or offline?
Here's what you do : Send a quick email about your inconveniences to

stephandunweg@hermanvanveen.com

I'm sure he'll be glad to help, and who knows , may even compensate you for your troubles...

One thing I can promise you for sure : They do exist, really !

They're here.... Ze Zijn er!

2006-08-25T10:47:00.000+02:00

Neue Alfred-Seite

2006-08-23T17:25:00.000+02:00

2006-08-22T15:32:00.000+02:00

What the *** ???

2006-08-21T16:10:00.000+02:00

2006-08-17T13:08:00.000+02:00

Freud

2006-08-15T18:12:00.000+02:00

Birthday

2006-07-18T10:57:00.000+02:00

That was a quickie for Herman's birthday a couple o' years back

It just doesn't stop

2006-07-18T07:33:00.000+02:00

Web 2.0 is going Kwak-crazy....

A look back...

2006-07-13T12:17:00.000+02:00

From the premiere of our first Kwak-schoolbook, "Wat Wijzer met Alfred Jodocus Kwak", ca 1990.

Brötchentüte

2006-07-11T19:09:00.000+02:00

Eend goed, alles goed

2006-07-05T13:35:00.000+02:00

Franka

2006-06-29T10:15:00.000+02:00

When I knocked on the door of Harlekijn Holland in 1983, Franka was literally the first person to open it for me. I was invited but nothing was prepared, she organized everything on the spot. She was the person to call me a few weeks later to invite me to join the tour. It wasn't hard to find out, that, as Herman puts it in his epitaph, she was the soul of the company. I'm very sad to hear that Franka has passed on this week . She'll always have a special place in my memory, ...a hug and a kiss and I too hope to see her again. Tot ziens, Franka.

Als de dag van toen ....

2006-06-25T16:17:00.000+02:00

Herman beim Schleswig Holstein Musikfestival

2006-06-23T14:16:00.000+02:00

Click the Headline to find out more...

ENTE GUT, ALLES GUT...

2006-06-20T08:35:00.000+02:00

AUSSTELLUNG IM BILDERBUCHMUSEUM TROISDORF

....and as special guest . Alfred J. Kwak ....

I'll have to go through my archives and send some originals over , today .....I've been planning this for days.Now, I'm too late as usual....

Here comes another one ......

2006-06-15T09:26:00.000+02:00

What's wrong with these guys ?

...and another one.End credits this time.

...is this some kind of contest or the birdflu or what ?

DVDs and more on display

2006-06-01T21:33:00.000+02:00

Proud managing director S. Dunweg and the upcoming Dvds .....

What the *** ???

2006-06-01T14:55:00.000+02:00

2006-05-29T18:16:00.000+02:00

Klangwolke

2006-05-27T13:50:00.000+02:00

Der Pressetext der Klangwolke ....

Samstag, 2. September, 21.00 Uhr, Donaupark Linz

Die Ente Alfred Jodocus Kwak ist UNICEF-Botschafter für Kinderrechte
Die Visualisierte Linzer Klangwolke trägt den Titel "Ente gut, alles gut" frei nach Herman van Veens Märchen "Lachen verboten". Hauptdarsteller des Märchens und Star der Klangwolke ist die Ente Alfred Jodocus Kwak, die sich in der lustigen, aber auch hintergründigen Geschichte als UNICEF-Botschafter für Notleidende in Afrika einsetzt. Alfred erfährt durch die Medien, dass es viele Notleidende in der Welt gibt und so macht er sich auf die Reise mit einem Zeitfahrrad, um Geld zu sammeln. Am Ende entdeckt Alfred, dass Geld die Ursache für die Probleme in der Welt ist. Durch die Zusammenarbeit und Weisheit aller Länder gelingt es ihm vielleicht, die Welt zu retten... "Der Regenborgen beginnt in deinen Augen. Die Sonne geht immer auf - egal ob du glücklich oder traurig bist. Der schönste Schmerz von allen ist der Schmerz vom Lachen!"

Visualisierte Linzer Klangwolke 2006
Herman van Veen arbeitete bereits 1977 als Student für das Kinderhilfswerk UNICEF. Die Kinderhilfsorganisation hat ihn dazu eingeladen, ein Stück für Symphonieorchester und Kinder zu schreiben. Die Ente Alfred verdankt seinen Namen Alfred Biolek. Herman van Veen fühlte sich auf einer gemeinsamen Reise von ihm inspiriert und meinte: "Alfred Biolek ging so komisch über Deck von Schiff, dass ich sagte, die Ente heißt Alfred".

Das Thema der Klangwolke ist dem 60-jährigen Jubiläum des Kinderhilfswerk UNICEF gewidmet. Die UNICEF-Dokumentation "Abgemacht ist abgemacht" veranschaulicht die Nicht-Einhaltung der Rechte für Kinder. Die Situation der Straßenkinder in Indien, über 600.000 Waisenkinder in Malawi, die Steigerung von HIV-Neuinfektionen, Kinderarbeit, -soldaten und
-prostitution bezeugen die Nicht-Einhaltung der Vereinbarung für das Recht auf Gesundheit, Schulerziehung und Sicherheit.

Eine spannende Inszenierung mit den Mächten an Land, zu See und in der Luft
Herman van Veen wird die Geschichte erzählen und singen. Die Mächte an Land, zur See und in der Luft werden mitarbeiten: der Sternenhimmel, der Sonnenkönig, Indianer, Chinesen, Orchester, Tänzer des Harlekijn Danstheaters, Stelzenläufer und Musikanten, Schauspieler und Puppen und schließlich Herman van Veen. Die Visualisierte Linzer Klangwolke ist der letzte gemeinsame Auftritt nach 40 Jahren von Herman van Veen und der Ente Alfred Jodocus Kwak - und die Krönung seiner Geschichte. End(t)e gut, alles gut ...

Eine Botschaft über das Boot vom Botschafter

2006-05-27T11:49:00.000+02:00

Water - Boot
Water kabbelt, stroomt, oneindig ver
Niemand die bepaalt waar het heen moet gaan.
Het water, het kiest zijn eigen weg.
Geen structuur, slechts vage contouren.
Water dat wordt gesneden door een boot, die er door vaart.
Slechts tijdelijk wordt bepaald waar het water heen stroomt.
Daarna, het stroomt weer verder, stuurloos maar met een eigen wil.

Maria Montessori Schule in Krefeld ontvangt geld voor haar rolstoelleerlingen.

5 mei 2006, Krefeld

In Krefeld schijnt de zon. Een vriendelijk stadje net over de grens in Duitsland. Vandaag stralen daar meer zonnetjes. Het zijn de gezichten van de kinderen op de Maria -Montessori Gesamtschule. De Herman van Veen Stiftung Deutschland, Duitse dochter van de Herman van Veen Foundation in Nederland, heeft geld gedoneerd. Deze financiële hulp heeft het mogelijk gemaakt een zeilboot ook toegankelijk te maken voor de leerlingen in een rolstoel.

Krefeld ligt op vijf minuten afstand van de Elfrather See, waar de watersport domineert. In 1994 is de school begonnen met het aanleggen van een zeilvloot voor haar leerlingen. Teamgeest, sport, kennismaken met de natuur, verplicht onderhoud plegen en zelfvertrouwen creëren zijn aspecten die aan de zeilvloot ten grondslag liggen.

Een oude boot is met hulp van vakmensen eerst door de leerlingen opgeknapt. Door de achterkant met de bodem te egaliseren is de situatie vanaf de kade gelijkvloers geworden. Zonder ‘drempel’ kunnen de kinderen nu eenvoudig aan boord komen. Herman van Veen doopt het schip ‘Alfred Jodokus Kwak’.

Special BulletinExtrablattLaatste Nieuws

2006-05-17T18:33:00.000+02:00

Unicef Austria just decided in its wisdom, as Herman puts it, to proclaim Alfred J. Kwak their honorary member and new ambassador for children rights. Can't tell you how proud I am . A drawing will follow soon. I first heard about this from Vivi Eickelberg on monday in Berlin, where we were to celebrate Unicef's 60th birthday with Sabine Christiansen, Vanessa Redgrave, Angelique Kidjo and 1800 other people, and eh....., what's her name again ?....ah, yes, Angela Merkel.Unfortunatly she left early, would have loved to ask her, how she could possibly regret the decrease of births in Germany, when we're dealing at the same time with 500.000 HIV-aids orphans in Malawi alone for example. Strange evening, who would have thunk....

If you wish to know more, please read Herman's weblog under the above link, or check out the photogallery under http://www.unicef.de/3529.html

Kwakwolke

2006-05-16T15:16:00.000+02:00

Ein Interview mit Herman, ...

2006-05-13T10:42:00.000+02:00

...das überhaupt nichts mit diesem Bild zu tun hat, aber überaus lesenswert ist, findet ihr , wenn ihr oben auf den link klickt ..

Alfred J. Kwak Boot

2006-05-07T10:01:00.000+02:00

Vielleicht bekomme ich irgendwann mal Fotos, dann poste ich sie hier ....H

Kwak - DVD Update

2006-04-27T14:00:00.000+02:00

I'm receiving many emails , asking about the release of the first Kwak DVDs that was originally announced for Easter.
Disky, the publisher, decided to release them in the second half of the year, because they are planningf a bigger advertising campaign accompaning the release and there will be lots of other Kwak-related stuff,as well ( boardgames, etc) which I will tell you about, when the time has come.

Meanwhile and if you're living in Holland, you can watch Kwak on pay-TV for 0,99 € per episode on Tele2. I'm not exactly sure about how this works, but I'm sure you'll find out and tell me .
H.

2006-03-26T14:34:00.000+02:00

This must be one of the first drawings of the until-then faceless stagecharacter, that Hans Bacher and I did. I think we even did it on cel on a painted background to give it that "animation-feel". It must have been around 1985 or so. The first comicstrips came shortly after that.

This is , what happens , when people you never met dress up as your character. It must be from one of those stageshows that theatercompanies are still performing of the first story that Herman ever wrote for Kwak.

You know you made it rrrrrrrrrealllllllly big, when some weird guy in Finland does a "Alfred Jodocus F***-Remix " and puts it on the web. Click the headline above and listen to it, if you dare.

Oh yes, and we eventually also made it into wikipedia.....

As you can see, Herman's vision of an upcoming themepark is very precise already, won't be too long till the gates open finally...

Until then, go and listen to the original stageshow on Itunes...that should keep you busy for a while.

Or, even better, pick up one of the upcoming DVDs with the TV-series, the first six DVDs will be out in Germany and Holland at Easter, pretty soon that is....

Can you spot the difference ?

2006-03-25T18:34:00.000+01:00

Five points each ....

Ones the original concept, the other the tamer version thats gonna be printed....

Hey , we made it into Wikipedia !!!!!!

2006-03-09T18:06:00.000+01:00

Vintage Bishops

2006-03-06T17:40:00.000+01:00

Two sketches for bishops from the original TV series from 1989 (?).

The DVD-dummies are here.

2006-03-03T12:05:00.000+01:00

Verwacht--Demnächst--Coming soon--

2006-02-24T15:14:00.000+01:00

52 Comicbooks featuring the adventures from the first two TV seasons.
Joy !!!!!!!

The handsome young man on the right is Stephan Dunweg, the man behind Herman van Veen Studios.

Foto

2006-02-23T18:29:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks back I published this foto of Lilja Herrmannsdottir as Alfred J. Kwak on this blog . SIMON MÖBUS wants me to let you know that he took this picture with his very own mobile after the perfomance in Essen and asked me to mention his name, which I herewith have gladly and proudly and legally have done. No offense Simon, I found the pic , when I was Google-hopping.

Herman schreibt auf seinem Weblog:

2006-02-22T14:44:00.000+01:00

...and we know, what he's talking about, don't we ?

Not ?
OK, here's the translation :
Gotto tell you that it is going really well with my duckchild.
The Audio-CDs, two books and the whole series is going to be republished in German and Dutch.
I shall perform Kwak for the last time during the Klangwolke in Linz.
We are busy working on a potential new series. Got a drawing from Harald Siepermann with an egg cracking open.

Cheaper by the Dozen

2006-02-20T09:46:00.000+01:00

The DVD-Covers -Completed

Weekend

2006-02-17T19:33:00.000+01:00

Dagdromen en Toverkunsten

2006-02-12T19:42:00.000+01:00

more DVDs

2006-02-09T16:55:00.000+01:00

Moving on with the DVD-covers, 12 to go...

Whale

2006-01-20T13:41:00.000+01:00

Just found this sketch for one of the comicbooks, and thought I'd share it.

2006-01-20T12:18:00.000+01:00

Maquette

2006-01-18T12:09:00.000+01:00

Another one of these beautiful maquettes from Gallery Fi Donc.

A piece of land

2006-01-18T11:13:00.000+01:00

Sometimes I can already see it...

Winnie

2006-01-16T15:51:00.000+01:00

Can't tell you, how much fun it is, to do this little, cheerfull, unpretencious characters.....

Alfred J Kwak Webcast

2006-01-10T09:37:00.000+01:00

I'm proud and happy to announce that you can now watch a different episode of Kwak every week as a webcast at Herman van Veen's website. Enjoy it, while it's still free, H

Tattoo

2006-01-04T15:12:00.000+01:00

Our great fan and friend Johannes just sent in a photo of his cool Kwak-tattoo.
You'll find the link to his Fansite on the right.
Groetjes, Johannes !

Prof Paljass von Unternull

2006-01-03T16:56:00.000+01:00

I always saw Prof. Paljass as a caricature of Peter Ustinov. We even asked him to do the voice but he declined , saying he would only do maincharacters.
The German name "von Unternull" ( below zero) is a reference to Wernher von Braun, the German rocket-engineer , who started out building rockets for the nazis and later brought Apollo 11 to the moon. ( Hence yesterday's little poem by Tom Lehrer). His character first appeared, in "Onder Water" a theatershow, written by Herman, which we later rewrote to " Vissen in trouble water /Fish and Ships". In this show he still had a German accent and an assitent, a penguin by the name of Fahrenheit. So is there a dark spot in Paljass' history ? I love to think so....
Eventually Herman did the voice himself in the TV-Series, which put his voice under a lot of stress, and I remember him saying, he would never do dubbing again.
The Professor's mentor by the way, is the legendary scientist and genius, worldexplorer and organist Prof. Prokudatis Krakedatus, whose diary is still in the professor's safekeeping. I wrote a lot of that backhistory down for volume 4 of the comicbooks, which I never finished....too much work with the TV-series...Maybe some day we'll find the time and right place.

Gelukkig Nieuwjaar

2005-12-31T12:56:00.000+01:00

Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down ?
"That's not my department", says Wernher von Braun ....

6 DVDs

2005-12-28T14:00:00.000+01:00

New Website

2005-12-24T09:58:00.000+01:00

Just in time for Christmas Herman van Veen's new and improved website is up and running. Check it out if you like and have nothing else to do over the holidays !

Almost done

2005-12-21T09:24:00.000+01:00

The year is winding down, all presents bought, days are getting less and less busy, and what's left to do for the rest of the year is finishing the designs for the DVD-boxes, which shouldn't be a problem and rather fun. Even the other blogs have gotten quieter. The new Seinfeld and I Spy- Collctor's boxes will take care, that the holidays won't get too long. Some snow would be fun. I was dreaming last night that I was in a meeting with Miyazake and I was angry with myself, that I hadn't brought anything to get an autograph. And what's your problem ?...

2005-12-18T17:38:00.000+01:00

Isn't that lovely ?
This maquette and many more are available at the Gallery "Fi Donc" in Alkmaar, Holland, and can you believe, that so far I've been to lazy and unorganized to get one ?

More DVD-Collector's Box artwork

2005-12-16T17:24:00.000+01:00

Nicht aufhören, blöd zu sein

2005-12-10T12:26:00.000+01:00

Für die, die es verpasst haben: Herman auf dem blauen Sofa.

RIP Hanns Dieter Hüsch

2005-12-07T10:45:00.000+01:00

Also, ich seh ihn ja mit Ditz Atrops, Hagenbuch und dem lieben Gott bei Hein Lindemann an de Thek' stehen und nierderrömisch reden....

Die einen werden sagen:
Er hat zu viel gemacht,
Die anderen werden sagen :
Er hat sich zu wenig bewegt,
Ich aber sage Euch :
Lasst mich in Ruhe.

Wir sehen uns wieder.
N'abend zusammen

Walk Of Fame

2005-12-06T07:58:00.000+01:00

Alfred J. Kwak leaving his footprints on the "Walk Of Fame" in Xanten.

Recklinghausen 1983

2005-12-02T18:23:00.000+01:00

The first time, if I remember correctly, I saw Herman, was in a TV program called "Bitte Umblättern".
He stood on a bridge in a park, reading" The Story About God".
Shortly after that I saw a two-part broadcast of his show . I remember being impressed with "Das sind meine Möwen" und "Der Präsident". Oh yes and of course the "Seltsamen Abenteuer", I found them ,....well, seltsam....

I met Herman for the first time in person after this show in Recklinghausen. A friend of mine, I went to school wit her,lived next to the Festspielhaus and we ended up in the concert one night, with "our gang" spontanously.
I had seen Herman before, even heard "Spetter, Pieter, Pater" before and even made some sketches of Kwak already, just for fun, but that doesn't mean anything, I made sketches of everything at that time. But this is the first time, that I go backstage to meet the guy. I am impressed with his show and how he sees the world, very close to my own way of thinking, only I am not as eloquent about it.He tells us about his recent concerts in East-Berlin, and my affection for him grows constantly.What fascinates me, is, that this guy is adressing sinister and real issues, he's living in our world, talking and singing about things that are on everybody's mind, but he's adressing them from the heart-level, without playing them down and if he does, he will, unlike so many others of his trade, counterpoint it even harder in a couple of seconds.That of course, doesn't come across on radio and TV, it's only accessable on stage, you have to watch him for 2 1/2 hours to get the full impression.

I'm in my 20's and I am making a decent living on commercials, but it is not what I want to do for the rest of my live. I'd rather do the same things with my talent, as he does with his. As he walks through the aisles during the finish, I put my hand on his shoulder and ask for a meeting after the show. "Come to my dressig-room afterwards", he says.

Well, this is basically how it all started, I had nothing with me, no portfolio of course, no pictures, this was all rather sponteneous, so we make another appointment at one of his Dutch concerts in Delft.This time I bring my stuff, Herman is a impressed,I guess, he tells me about a couple of fairytales he has been writing, fantasy/vikingstuff, the Mabinogion, and a couple of weeks later i get some pages with the first draft of the stories. I make some first sketches and we start meeting , not often, but regularly....

Hut Ab

2005-11-28T08:33:00.000+01:00

Wenn du mich so lieb ansiehst, denke ich, daß ich so lieb bin,
Wenn du mich so schön ansiehst, denke ich, daß ich so schön bin,
Wenn du mich so klug ansiehst, denke ich, daß ich so klug bin ,
Wenn du mich so böse ansiehst, denke ich:
" Was ist denn mit dir los? "

...mein persönliches Highlight der Show.

Die Hamburger Konzerte der diesjährigen Tournee sind zu Ende, und obwohl eigentlich nichts geplant war, haben wir dann doch einige wichtige Gespräche geführt, teilweise bis tief in die Nacht, und wir sind ein gewaltiges Stück weitergekommen, was Kwak's Zukunft betrifft, es sieht alles sehr, sehr positiv aus. Stay tuned for further updates.

Chainletter

2005-11-23T16:06:00.001+01:00

In 1993 I got a copy of a chainletter from London, which had been through all of California before. It promised eternal luck if the chain wasn't broken, you know these kind of letters. The list of names included the likes of Whoopie Goldberg, the Zuckers, James Newton Howard, F.F. Coppola, Dinah Shore, Jane Fonda, Art Buchwald etc . It somehow got into the hands of cartoonists and I got it through Daan Jippes and Hans Bacher. Here's my little contribution :

2005-11-18T11:17:00.000+01:00

Goede morgen

2005-11-16T08:18:00.000+01:00

Time to continue with the strip...and to start a subplot.Young love is doomed...

DVD Collector's Box

2005-11-15T14:34:00.000+01:00

Did the first sketches for the covers of the upcoming AJK-Collector's DVD-Box this morning.
:)

That's Dr.(!) Schnieders !

2005-11-12T13:10:00.000+01:00

Bauklötze

2005-11-12T13:05:00.000+01:00

Rotes Sofa

2005-11-08T08:02:00.000+01:00

Wo heute noch müde Männer auf Sofas sitzen, kann morgen schon das Alfred Kwak-Haus stehen ....

Veenpark

2005-10-29T11:12:00.000+02:00

A shoe come true.

Das Holzschuhhaus steht im Freilichtmuseum VEENPARK (Veen = Moor, in diesem Zusammenhang) in Barger Compascum . Für mehr Informationen bitte oben auf den Link klicken.

2005-10-29T11:09:00.000+02:00

A sketch for a Unicef-campaign.

2005-10-26T09:40:00.000+02:00

Für den guten Zweck...stolze 41.000 € fürs Kwak-Haus.
Ganz rechts Hans Werner Neske, der Motor der Herman van Veen-Stiftung.

2005-10-26T09:35:00.000+02:00

Pierrot 7

2005-10-25T08:24:00.000+02:00

Guten Morgen 6

When I designed Anna, Kwak's mother, for the TV-series, I saw her of course through Kwak's eyes and made her very motherlike, warm and roundish.
When I drew her for this comicstrip, I saw her through Johan's, her lover's eyes, and she became much more attractive, sexy and cute. Well, it shows , that's it important through whose character's eyes you look at another character, I mean , eh....I ....I know what I mean.

2005-10-24T11:43:00.000+02:00

Ab heute wieder im Programm.

2005-10-22T11:47:00.000+02:00

KAUFBEFEHL !

Welches Geräusch auf der CD könnte wohl den Farben des Covers an Lautstärke und Schrillheit gleichkommen ?
Wird man danach je wieder hören können ?

2005-10-22T10:35:00.000+02:00

Propvol

Inspired by the great success of Kwak with children and his talent to communicate difficult social and society-issues in a simple but not simplifying way to kids, the Dutch schoolministry approached us in the early 90's to do a couple of books about current issues of that time.
The above drawing is from "Propvol" which dealt with overpopulation of the 3rd world and it's reasons in the 1rst world.
On this picture we see a lady-vulture, who has been working as a cropduster most of her life, and had to give it up for health-reasons. You can see her allergic reactions at the tip of her beak, the cricket is a collector of folksongs and -lore, which rapidly vanish from the face of the earth,and in the back your typicall indifferent king and queen. Do I have to point out the beautiful markermagic of Hans Bacher ? The story was written by Bies van Ede, Jacques Weijters and Herman van Veen.

2005-10-20T09:34:00.000+02:00

Guten Morgen 5

The same edition of "Pierrot" featured an article about crop-circles...

Henk started out as a tiny sidecharacter , whose mere job it was to give Kwak an estimate on the costs of the Greatwaterland-channel in the original theatershow from 1977.
When Herman handed me "onder water", another play he had written about herings, to rework it as Kwak's 2nd adventure,"Vissen in troubel water", I brought him back as Kwak's permanent partner. I always found the size-difference of the two very rewarding, visually.
When we concieved the TV-series, Herman introduced the idea that Henk should even have been Johan's, Alfred's father's, best buddy and later become even Alfred's foster-father. A great idea.
In the first episode he even became the matchmaker of Alfred's parents, and therefore responsible for Alfred's very existence. What a carreer...

In a perfect world, and if I could have had it my way, Hanns Dieter Hüsch would have been Henk's voice.

2005-10-19T12:53:00.000+02:00

The first sketch for the cover of "Abgemacht ist Abgemacht".
I wish, there was a way to translate the original dynamics and spontanity into a clean up . I wish I could have used this drawing as a cover.

2005-10-18T18:01:00.000+02:00

The Character Line-Up for the first episode.

2005-10-18T07:45:00.000+02:00

Guten Morgen 4

Since Kwak's whole family is going to be killed at the climax of the story in a car accident, I found it a nice idea to introduce the danger right away and so create a nice circle of events.

2005-10-17T15:40:00.000+02:00

Guten Morgen 3

I come from a long line of miners. Henk has always been my tribute to their simple wit, generosity, warmth and dignity.

2005-10-17T10:26:00.000+02:00

In Volume 3 of the Comicbooks , "Fish and Ships", Kwak was going to the southpole to find a whale, to save the herrings of Greatwaterland. I thought it would be fun to turn things around by 180° and have him become an whaler by accident, instead. I had so much fun at that time, doing the whalers. Magnificent inking by Hans Bacher here.

2005-10-16T11:19:00.000+02:00

The original treatment of the first TV-episode, written and conceived by Herman van Veen.
Legend has it, that he dictated the whole series in the car driving from one concert to the next.

From there it would come to us, Hans and I would work on the characters, props and settings, then a very nice Japanese gentleman, Mr. Akira Miyazake, would write the skripts. He had a biggest name in the production as a TV-writer , he was in his 70's and we got along very nicely, I liked him a lot. It was his first time as a writer for animation, so he would handle the characters as if they were real people, that's why he was hired for the job in the first place.
I would then go over the storyboards again, mostly to hear, that it was too late for changes, I would do additional characters, etc.
Once the production was up and running, they would produce one episode a week, even when the series was already on air.
They even dubbed 26 minutes of animation in 26 minutes. I saw that once, it was like an oldtime radioshow. Like Gerald McBoing Boing...

2005-10-15T20:30:00.000+02:00

The same edition of "Pierrot" featured an article about Kwak. I remember writing the interview together with Alois Kurzmann, based on things herman had said elsewhere before.

2005-10-15T12:16:00.000+02:00

ALFRED JODOCUS KWAK

GUTEN MORGEN/PIERROT 2

The opening-doublepage of the comic.You have to see them next to each other.
I'm still rather fond of the starfighter crossing the picture. That idea came up , when I was working on the storyboards for the first episode.
After Herman had written the outlines for the 52 episodes and Hans and I had done the characterbible, the japanese studio did the first version of the storyboard, and it became clear, that they had a complete diffrent understandng of the stories and the Kwak-world, than we had- to put it nicely. All the characters were walking on all fours and were much more animal-like in their general behaviour, it looked more like an episode from "Kimba, the white lion", which was no coincidence. Saitosan, the director, had in fact been also the director of "Kimba" and got cast for "Kwak", based on his good reputation from that production. But, what had worked on Kimba, wasn't working on Kwak, they just didn't get the idea, that our animals were humans in an animal body.
I had a hard time, putting things straight without being allowed to say "no" in a meeting, because it was considered a huge insult to a person of that high reputation. I was on my own at that time in Tokyo, the only "surviving" member of the creative trio, we had been there together before, mainly to get to know the team, shake hands and have good food. Now Herman was back on his tour and Hans, if I remember correctly , had moved on to the PreVis team of "Beauty and the Beast", already.
The only solution was to do the storyboard myself overnight in my hotelroom. A meeting between the director and me was set up, with an interpreter as the only witness, where I was supposed to explain our ideas to him, without his team watching how he was told, what to do, so he wouldn't loose his face. A couple of days later, he had redrawn by board,inversed ileft to right as his own contribution, and presented it as his own to the team- of course everybody knew, but that's how things work in strange faraway countries. Another big issue was, that, in the first episode, Kwak's family leaves it's homeland, because a theme park is build , where they are living. That, in Japanese understanding, is despicable, behaviour, it was considered "treason", no heriodeed, whatsoever. Serving your country, under which circumstances whatsoever, is a much higher value , than your own personell freedom and individuality. Quite different from our understanding. I spent long nights and days, talking and explaining about Hitler, apartheid, drugs, whaling and other subjects.
Anyway, I still wasn't 100% happy with the finished episode, regarding charme and humor and most of all, speed. But the comicstrip gave me a chance to set things straight.
Back to the starfighter: I introduced it, 'cause we openend the first episode with spring coming to Greatwaterland, blossoms opening and stuff and I wanted to break the athmosphere right away, showing that this was not your ordinary happy-go-lucky-world, there's conflict. I remember spending days in meetings about that starfighter, it came up again and again, "Who's flying it?" "Humans?", "No, there are no humans", "Is there a war?", "Is it a contemporary starfighter , or a vintage one?", etc, etc, etc...

Alfred Jodocus Kwak

20th Sept 2007 Goch

Weihnacht ist zum Jahresrest ein sehr weit verbreitet Fest

Get your very own Alfred J.Kwak-coffeemug today !!!

Kwak + Stinkefinger

Goch

Things to come

H.H. in HH

Kwaktuelles

Frohes Fest

Alfred in the news

Uit het gastenboek van Hermanvanveen.com

Karsten Jahnke

Unicef Austria

Hans Bacher

They're here.... Ze Zijn er!

Neue Alfred-Seite

What the *** ???

Freud

Birthday

It just doesn't stop

A look back...

Brötchentüte

Eend goed, alles goed

Franka

Als de dag van toen ....

Herman beim Schleswig Holstein Musikfestival

ENTE GUT, ALLES GUT...

Here comes another one ......

DVDs and more on display

What the *** ???

Klangwolke

Eine Botschaft über das Boot vom Botschafter

Special Bulletin*Extrablatt*Laatste Nieuws

Kwakwolke

Ein Interview mit Herman, ...

Alfred J. Kwak Boot

Kwak - DVD Update

Can you spot the difference ?

Hey , we made it into Wikipedia !!!!!!

Vintage Bishops

The DVD-dummies are here.

Verwacht--Demnächst--Coming soon--

Foto

Herman schreibt auf seinem Weblog:

Cheaper by the Dozen

Weekend

Dagdromen en Toverkunsten

more DVDs

Whale

Maquette

A piece of land

Winnie

Alfred J Kwak Webcast

Tattoo

Prof Paljass von Unternull

Gelukkig Nieuwjaar

6 DVDs

New Website

Almost done

More DVD-Collector's Box artwork

Nicht aufhören, blöd zu sein

RIP Hanns Dieter Hüsch

Walk Of Fame

Recklinghausen 1983

Hut Ab

Chainletter

Goede morgen

DVD Collector's Box

That's Dr.(!) Schnieders !

Bauklötze

Rotes Sofa

Veenpark

Special BulletinExtrablattLaatste Nieuws