The Imaginary Friend Society

After a diagnosis, the cancer process gets complicated for kids. Fighting cancer is hard enough, but the terminology, doctor’s visits, and procedures make it even harder. We learned that many kids who survived cancer relied on an imaginary friend as a coping mechanism during long hospital stays.

This coping mechanism became our inspiration for the Imaginary Friend Society, a fictitious group of characters that appears in 20 animated films, designed to help kids understand and cope with the hardships of a cancer diagnosis and its treatment. These films cover everything from “What is an MRI?” to “Blood Transfusions” and “Feeling Sad.” We also developed an interactive experience for the siblings of cancer patients to better understand their feelings during this difficult time.

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In addition, we created ImaginaryFriendSociety.com, a website that showcases all 20 films and features other ways that people can help.

“These films help us care for families going through their cancer journey by playfully explaining difficult aspects of cancer care in a way kids understand,” said Robin Boettcher, president and CEO of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.

This pro bono, global film project was the culmination of many talented animation, music, and sound-design partners from around the world. Each partner created their own imaginary friend and produced a different cancer-related video with a script written by us.

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