Spadla z oblakov

"Spadla z oblakov" ("She fell from the clouds") under Russian title "Priklyucheniya v kanikuly" ("Vacation Adventures") was one of the most popular short-series on Soviet TV during 1980s. I haven't seen one over 15 years and nowadays it is on Russian TV again - on "Kultura" channel. Unfortunately my recent impressions differ very much from the effect of old years. Now this series produces rather stupid effect:( There were a little science-fiction short series on Soviet TV and only a couple of them - "Priklucheniya Electronika" (1979) and "Gost'ya iz budushchego" (1983) - have popularity and cult status up to the present time. I thought "Spadla z oblakov" kept cult status too, but alas I was wrong! Routinely Soviet TV showed children's movies and series made in Eastern Europe (Poland, GDR, Czechoslovakia) - mainly fairy tales, adventures and comedies. Thus no wonder any SF-series became an event.

The story is about a group of children in the town Cabovce who found a cute alien girl from the planet Gurun. Her name is Maika (Majka). She can fly, walk on water, duplicate anything. Her main source of power is from a cell in her belt. They shared many adventures together and became the best of friends. The series contain 13 episodes. I believe it is based on a book Spadla Z Nebe (1967), but cannot confirm this. The series was so popular in Viet Nam during the 80's that it sparked a hair style craze similar to Maika. This series is impossible to find nowadays, but if you are looking for it like I am, here are some translations of the title: "Spadla z oblakov", "Maika - Co Be Tu Tren Troi Roi Xuong", "Prilyucheniya v kanikuly", "She Came Out of the Blue Sky", "Majka - jenta fre verdsrommet".

I was living Vietnam because my parents were working for the Russian diplomat corp at the time. Surrounded by Vietnamese children, I felt lonely being blond and pale. This was why I identified with the alien character from this series who finds herself among those who look different than herself. I would be glued to the black and white TV every night watching this show. I cried when I accidentally saw this show again on Youtube a few years back. 35 years later and the emotions are still raw. I watch the shows with my children and they thought the story was silly and the special effects were antiquated. Ah, the children of these days with their high tech gadgets. Technology these days spoils the imagination of kids. When I was their age, I was convinced that Maika was indeed from outer space and possesses supernatural powers. I even had my haircut that looked like her.

We Hungarian kids simply loved this one. We never cared the poor FX like Majka's head "sparkling" by a simple Christmas sparkler fixed to the back of her neck, and so. Czechoslovakian kids' series ruled our world, only matched by some Hungarian cartoons like "Cat City" or "Vuk". I definitely will show this to my kids someday, and explain why it's still great even if it doesn't have any CGI - simply because it's all believable, and kids can just think along the story. No dragons, no Pokémons and no intergalactic warrior-demigods - just a little girl and some friends.

It's just sad how most of the actors in this series ended up when they grew up. Zuzana Pravnanská, the little girl portraying Majka has been married twice, but her husband beat and raped her, and finally she got addicted to alcohol. This is all anyone knows of her fate. It's said she had three children, but nobody knows where she is now, or what is she doing. Fact is that she made her last film in 1984, and that's been already quite a while.