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Maxi pes Fík (The maxi dog Fík) is a Czechoslovak animated television series created in 1975.
It was produced by writer Rudolf Čechura, who developed the plot, artist and illustrator Jiří Šalamoun, who created the drawings, actor Josef Dvořák, who provided all the voices, and composer Petr Skoumal, who created the music.
The first season follows the adventures of Fík, a mastodontic dog, and his owner Ája, a little girl living in a village near Kadaň.
The story begins when Ája’s father brought home a puppy and called it Rek.
Since Ája was still small and unable to properly pronounce the letter R, she called it Fík instead.
The dog grew incredibly fast, outgrowing overnight a shoebox, a basket, and a shed in the backyard.
He stopped growing after drinking a whole barrel of beer, but he began talking instead.
The second season, published in 1977, describes Fík’s journey around the world.
A third and final season was produced in 1982, where the dog wakes up every morning with a wild dream that he tells to Ája.
Artist Jiří Šalamoun gave the big dog his unmistakable appearance, modeling the character after his own dog Elster, an Old English sheepdog.
That is why Fík has such a typical shaggy silhouette and is not a Saint Bernard, as many people think.
Today, the fairy tale is commemorated by the Maxipsa Fík embankment in Kadaň.
