Spadla z oblakov facts for kids

Spadla z oblakov (which means She Came Out of the Blue Sky in English) is a super popular Slovak sci-fi TV show for kids. It was made in 1978 and quickly became a hit in Czechoslovakia and many other countries.

The TV show is based on a children's book from 1967 called Spadla z nebe (She came out of the blue sky). The book was written by Václav Pavel Borovička, a Czech writer. The book was so popular that it was printed many times.

The TV show follows the book very closely. However, the ending is different. In the book, the main character dies. But in the TV show, she goes back home, which is a much happier ending!

The Story of Maika's Arrival

An alien girl lands on Earth near a town called Čabovce in Slovakia. She looks like a normal little girl. A group of local children find her and decide to call her Maika.

The kids quickly realize Maika is not a normal person. She can float in the air and even walk on water! These amazing powers show she is from another world.

At first, Maika seems a bit strange. Her skin looks like wax, and she speaks in a choppy, robot-like way. She wears a special belt with different tools. When she first arrived, she tried to speak German. But then she plugged in the right language part into her belt, and she could speak Slovak perfectly, even if it sounded a bit stiff.

Maika doesn't seem to understand feelings or jokes. She even asks what it means to "like" something. She tells the children she came from a faraway planet called Gurun. She traveled using a "system" named Felix.

When Maika first appeared, a strange glowing light was seen in the woods. A weird mechanical voice saying "Felix" also interrupted local radio shows. We never fully learn what Felix is, but it's how Maika travels and it seems to be smart.

Maika Learns About Humans

Maika knows many facts about Earth from listening to radio broadcasts on Gurun. But she doesn't understand human feelings or how our bodies work. For example, when the kids try to have a "party" for her, she doesn't eat. She gets her energy from a special "stabilizer" gem in her belt.

Instead of eating, Maika's eyes glow. She sends a report about the kids eating to Gurun. This report even shows up on local TV screens! The alien voice of "Felix" explains to Gurun that Earthlings have a "head" with holes. They use one hole to eat "fuel" that is not very good. So, they have to eat all the time in rituals called "breakfast," "lunch," and "dinner."

This makes it seem like Maika's human-like body is just a copy. Her people might not look like humans at all. She uses this body to talk to us.

As the show goes on, Maika starts to understand human feelings better. Her new friends help her learn. She even begins to feel real emotions herself! Her appearance also changes, becoming more human-like. Her skin and hair look less waxy. This shows her body can change as she learns more about humans.

Maika stops talking like a robot and starts to sound like a normal child. She also learns to have fun! She uses her powers to fly and copy things, creating exciting adventures for her friends.

Maika's Powers and Challenges

Eventually, the children can no longer keep Maika a secret. She also stops trying to hide. After showing off her powers, the people in the town accept that she is an alien. She even takes part in a press conference!

During the press conference, Maika uses her power to copy things a lot. This makes her weak. She says the "stabilizer" in her belt needs to be replaced. Karol, the boy she is closest to, helps her. They go to a clearing in the woods where Felix first landed.

Karol hides behind a rock as a bright, pulsing light appears. A new "stabilizer" lands in Maika's hand. Seconds later, Felix is gone. Maika is happy again, full of energy.

Even though Maika's powers are amazing, the world doesn't go crazy. But a foreign country becomes interested in her. Their agents try to kidnap her! Maika doesn't mind, thinking it's a chance to learn more about Earth.

However, when the kidnappers try to take her out of the country in their helicopter, Maika uses her powers. She makes the helicopter turn around in the air! The foreign agents are arrested. The local Slovak authorities seem happy to let Maika stay with her young friends.

The Farewell

Maika uses her powers to float objects and even people. She takes her friends on adventures to places like Bratislava and Prague. But this uses up her energy again. At the end of the second-to-last episode, Maika is weak once more. Worse, she can't even talk to "system Felix" to get a new stabilizer.

The last episode is a race against time. Karol tries to take Maika, who seems to be dying, back to the clearing in the woods. This time, they don't know if Felix will even be there. Luckily, one of the kids is a radio amateur. He had heard Felix's strange voice before. He manages to contact Felix and tell it about Maika's problem.

The bright, pulsing light comes down into the woods again. Karol knows this is goodbye. In their last moments, he tells Maika he loves her. Maika sheds her very first tear. She promises Karol that she will come back to him and "the gang."

Maika leaves, and the show ends. But the kids are hopeful that they will see their amazing friend again someday. This happy ending is different from the original book, where Maika dies instead of going home.

Making the Show: Behind the Scenes

The show was made in 1978 by Czechoslovak Television in Bratislava. It was filmed at Film Ateliers Gottwaldov. There are 13 episodes, and each one lasts about 25 minutes.

Radim Cvrček was the director. The main child role of Maika was played by Zuzana Pravňanská. The music for the show was created by Harry Macourek.

Special Effects and Realism

The show tried to make it seem like a true story. The very first episode starts with a doctor talking to the camera. He explains the amazing events that have happened. He even gives exact map coordinates (like a GPS location) to make it feel real. These coordinates are repeated in many episodes.

Spadla z oblakov used many special effects. Some look a bit old now, but they were very good for a TV show made in 1978! Maika often flies, her eyes glow when she sends messages home, and she can copy objects perfectly.

But the show wasn't just about cool effects. It focused on Maika learning about humans. It also showed how the human children tried to understand their alien visitor. Maika slowly changed from being a strange, detached alien to almost perfectly human-like by the end.

After Maika leaves, the show ends with two characters talking directly to the viewers. They remind everyone of Maika's promise to return. They say if you ever go to the Tatra mountains and see a flying girl, it might be her!

Main Characters

• Zuzana Pravnanská as Majka
• Matej Landl as Karol
• Lubor Cajka as Slávo
• Svetlana Majbová as Katka
• Karol Polák as Dedič
• Michal Suchánek (Czech actor) as Jurko
• Pavel Lazar as Ferko
• Roman Kudrna as Igor
• Ján Kramár as VB Kvasnák
• Milan Kis as Slávo's father, hotel doorman
• František Zvarík as Valko, hotel manager
• Peter Scholtz as Emil Horák
• Emil Horváth St. as teacher
• Jozef Bednárik as Palo
• Václav Babka as doctor
• Mária Hájková as grandmother

Similarities to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

The 1978 show Spadla z oblakov has many things in common with the famous 1982 movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

In both stories:

• A small alien comes to Earth.
• Only a group of children know about the alien at first.
• The alien can make things float and flies with its new friends.
• The kids try to hide the alien from adults.
• Eventually, everyone finds out about the alien.
• The alien gets sick and needs to contact its own people to pick it up.
• They finally make contact using simple, homemade radio equipment.
• The story ends with a sad goodbye between the alien and the boy it became closest to.

Show Names in Other Languages

The show was shown in many countries. Here are some of the names it had:

• English: She Came Out of the Blue Sky
• Russian: Приключения в каникулы
• German: Sie kam aus dem All
• Polish: Majka z Kosmosu/Spadła z obłoków
• Cambodian: ម៉ៃកា កុមារីធ្លាក់ពីលើមេឃ
• Norwegian (Nynorsk): Majka – jenta frå verdsrommet (Majka – the girl from space)
• Vietnamese: Maika - Cô bé từ trên trời rơi xuống
• Hungarian: Csillagok küldötte
• Bulgarian: Паднала от облаците
• Spanish: Mayka, La Niña del Espacio