--- title: FAQ | Baldies description: Answers to common questions about Baldies, cancer treatment topics, the app, episodes, and ways to support the project. url: "https://www.baldies.eu/faq" type: static generatedAt: "2026-05-04T20:21:38.933Z" --- ![](/assets/menu-bottom-wave.svg) [![Donate](/assets/menu-donate.svg)](/help-us) [Click to donate](/#donate) ![](/assets/faq-blob.svg) # BALDIES FAQ What are Baldies? → Baldies are an animated series about a fearless bunch of kids who meet in hospital and fight for their health – with humor, imagination, and real facts about cancer diagnosis and treatment. Baldies are here to give hope, turn fear into bravery, and burst the bubble of social unease and silence that surrounds cancer and isolates people. Baldies help people talk about cancer with less panic and more understanding. Who are Baldies for? → Baldies are for everyone. Because Baldies explain cancer treatment, they are for kids going through that treatment – and for everyone around them: parents, siblings, classmates, friends, teachers. They're made with children in mind, but the need for clear, humane language doesn't stop at childhood – anyone going through cancer, and anyone close to them, can benefit. In addition, Baldies believe that knowing how to talk to a person being treated for a serious illness is something all of us should know. The series is designed to be safe to watch for young children from around age 4 – ideally with a grown-up nearby for questions and reassurance. Do Baldies explain childhood cancer treatment? → Yes – Baldies explain childhood cancer treatment in a way that is honest, humane, and easy to follow. Baldies are built around child characters (primary school to teens) and designed to be safe to watch from around age 4. They cover diagnosis, treatment, and everyday hospital reality, using playful animation, clear language and metaphors that make complex things easier to understand and talk about. How do Baldies explain cancer treatment? → Baldies give language, metaphors and images for what's happening, so that cancer diagnosis and treatment stop being a fog of scary words and become something that can be understood, talked about, and shared. Humor plays a huge role, alongside compassion and a willingness to say things out loud. What makes Baldies different from other cancer awareness projects? → Unique among other cancer awareness content, Baldies aim to change the way cancer is handled in everyday conversation – especially for kids. What makes Baldies special: They're frank, not fluffy. Baldies don't tiptoe around reality, and they don't use vague inspirational fog to hide the hard parts. They're humane, not clinical. Treatment is explained clearly, but the emotional world matters just as much – fear, boredom, anger, awkward silence, friendship, family stress. They use humor with respect. The jokes are neither "laughing at cancer" nor trivializing the treatment challenges. They're laughing at the absurdity of hospital life, at the weirdness of machines and rules – the kind of humor that gives kids control back. They're driven by lived experience. The creator Eliška Soffer Podzimek is translating something she survived into a story that feels emotionally true. They're story-first. Baldies don't feel like an information leaflet in costume. The information travels inside adventures, relationships, and imagery kids can actually hold onto. They don't isolate patients. Baldies are designed to be watched and shared – by patients, families, friends, and classmates – so the illness stops being a private planet no one can visit. Which topics do Baldies cover? → Baldies demystify the stuff that scares people because it's unknown – cancer diagnosis, treatment, and everyday hospital reality. Topics include chemotherapy, side effects, chemo port surgery, scans (MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), CT, PET), radiotherapy, surgery, transplants, biological treatment, low immunity, transfusions, isolation, and how illness affects family and friendships. Are Baldies medically accurate? → Baldies are developed with expert medical advisors to help bridge specialist information and everyday understanding, while staying as accurate as possible. In the Czech Republic, the project is advised by the Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology at Motol University Hospital in Prague, led by Assoc. MUDr. Lucie Šrámková, Ph.D. Are Baldies sad? → Baldies are honest – and that's the point. The tone is hopeful and playful, without pretending the hard parts don't exist. Our characters are funny, stubborn, inventive, sometimes angry, sometimes scared – and still very much themselves. Baldies also make space for the psychological side of illness. They help process big emotions like fear, shame, boredom, loneliness, frustration, and grief – and they show how treatment affects not only the body, but also the mind, friendships, and family life. Nothing is framed as "wrong" or "too much." It's real emotional weather in a hard season – named, understood, and handled with care. Who and why created Baldies? → Baldies are the brainchild of Czech artist and childhood cancer survivor Eliška Soffer Podzimek. Eliška created Baldies to turn her own experience into something that can help others – especially children in treatment and the people around them. During her own treatment, she often felt bewildered and isolated, and Baldies are her way of making things speakable: giving language and images for what's happening, so the scary "unknown" becomes understandable. As an artist, Eliška has the visual tools to translate hospital life into metaphors and worlds kids can hold onto – with compassion, humour, and respect. Her lived experience shapes the emotional truth of Baldies, and her distinctive visual style shapes how Baldies look and feel. Who are the main characters in Baldies? → Meet our baldies: Toby (10), Ema (8), Hugo (7), and Lola (15) – different ages, different personalities, different ways of coping. Alongside them are the Baldies' Army of Helpers: Beetle, their magical buddy; Captain Chemo, the tumor-cell hunter; Dr. Marta, the doctor who explains what's happening; and Toby's parents, Mum Ester and Dad Vincent, who do their best to keep the ground steady when everything shakes. Who is Beetle in Baldies — and is it based on a real car? → Beetle is the Baldies' magical buddy – a little toy car who takes our kids on adventures and expeditions, and helps explain what's happening inside the body. Yes – the real Beetle was given to Eliška by a family friend, Petr, shortly before he passed away from cancer. In Baldies, Eliška transforms Beetle into a magical talisman who comes to life whenever our little heroes get scared or need support. What is the number of Baldies episodes? → Baldies are planned as 10 main animated episodes, with additional special episodes in development. Beyond the series, Baldies are also growing into a wider Baldies universe – including the Baldies App and original video content, with 7 animated nutrition videos and 10 live-action exercise videos. What is the Baldies App? → The Baldies App is a simple, child-friendly journalling application – a safe place to keep the Baldies universe close, and to record everyday notes that matter during treatment. It will also contain all Baldies episodes in one library, plus original content made specially for Baldies: gentle exercise videos (designed with expert input to be suitable during treatment, but fun for anyone to join) and animated nutrition explainers with practical tips, including what to eat on days when you feel unwell. Are Baldies "for kids" in a simplistic way? → No. Baldies speak in kid-friendly language without talking down. They assume children can handle truth – as long as it's delivered with care, imagination, and clear explanations. What is the visual style and animation of Baldies? → Baldies have a distinctive, instantly recognisable look shaped by creator and artist Eliška Soffer Podzimek. The visuals blend hand-drawn illustration with textured, mixed-media elements – bold outlines, pencil-like hatching, and a quirky, childlike feel that keeps the world warm and human, not clinical. That visual language carries into the animation: Baldies combine multiple animation techniques into one cohesive world, built from the ground up – characters, rigs, environments, movement, and final compositing. This lets the series shift smoothly between everyday hospital reality and imaginative "expedition" sequences, turning facts into something you can picture and emotions into something you can name. The result is cinematic and playful, but always respectful and emotionally true to lived experience. How can people support Baldies? → People can support Baldies through a one-time or regular donation, by getting merch, or by partnering through the Baldies Adoption Programme (adopt a character and help bring Baldies into motion). The biggest help is regular monthly support through the Baldies Friends Club – it gives the project stability and helps us keep the momentum as we make the series. When you donate monthly, you automatically become a Club member and can set up and name your own Little Hair – a small symbol of great support. Every bit of help moves Baldies closer to completion. Where and when are Baldies made — and in which languages? → Baldies are made in the Czech Republic by a Czech creative team led by artist and creator Eliška Soffer Podzimek. Baldies are produced by OLD&RICH and animated by BareBear Production s.r.o. in Prague. Baldies are developed in Czech and English, with the goal of adding more language versions over time. The pilot episode was made in 2025. The rest of the series is currently in development, alongside the Baldies App and its original content. Because Baldies are an independent non-profit project, the pace of production depends on fundraising.