The characters were first introduced in 1962. Their names are
diminutives of
Bolesław and
Karol. In English, the cartoon was distributed as
Benny & Lenny,
Jym and Jam and
Tim & Tom. In 1973, at the requests from female viewers, a girl character by the name of Tola was added; she lives in the forest and meets the brothers there. Her first appearance was in the episode "Tola". In total, Tola appeared in 30 episodes. In a similar vein to
The Pink Panther theatrical cartoons, most episodes do not have dialogue. Exceptions are feature-length films and the series from the 1980s, where the main characters' voices were done by: Bolek – Ewa Złotowska, Ilona Kuśmierska; Lolek – Danuta Mancewicz, Danuta Przesmycka. During the period of the
Polish People's Republic, Bolek and Lolek were reproduced in a large quantity of toys: action figures, movies, postcards, online arcades, puzzles, etc., which can be seen in the Museum of Dobranocki (bed-time stories) of the PRL. They are also currently made in computer programmes, colouring books, general picture books and games. The series was popular in many countries, and was one of the few animated films allowed to be broadcast by
Iranian television, along with other popular Polish animated cartoon
Reksio, just after the
Iranian Revolution of 1979. In 2011, the
Bolek and Lolek Monument was erected in Bielsko-Biała. ==Characters==