“A really bad move”: Popular @SylvanianDrama TikTok account sued by company that makes the toys

Animal figurine company Sylvanian Families filed a lawsuit in April against a TikTok account that creates dramatic stories with the toys.

Sylvanian Families sues @SylvanianDrama

According to the Irish Independent, Japanese toy and gaming company Epoch Co., Ltd. sued Thea Von Engelbrechten—owner of SylvanianDrama (@sylvaniandrama)—in April 2025. Epoch started selling the Sylvanian Families line of anthropomorphized animal figurines in 1985.

The TikTok account @SylvanianDrama launched in early 2021. It now has 2.5 million followers.

Each video featuring the quaint figurines is set to popular music and tells simple stories via captioned dialogue between the characters. It hasn’t posted a new video since January, however.

The most popular of the series, which has over 8.2 million views, is about a recently graduated young mole who can’t get a job because she’s an alcoholic and joins a gang after her parents cut her off.

In the lawsuit, Epoch accused Von Engelbrechten of “creating, publishing, and disseminating online advertising videos” with the dolls without their permission. The company further says that the content of the videos could “cause irreparable injury” to its reputation.

Some of Epoch’s ire also seems to come from the fact that Von Engelbrechten has engaged in brand deals with other companies.

For example, one video from 2024 features a Marc Jacobs tote bag. In this one, a family bribes their alcoholic mother to go to rehab by promising to buy her the bag.

The fashion brand cross-posted the @SylvanianDrama video to its TikTok account.

“It makes the corporation seem like evil bad guys”

As the news of the lawsuit spread to the rest of TikTok, many SylvanianDrama fans came to the owner’s defense. TikToker @junk_mom gained over 2.9 million views with a video arguing that Epoch made a big mistake.

“I personally always think it’s a really bad move for a corporation to take somebody that’s using their produce to show it to a whole new audience and then demonize them for it,” she said, “because it makes the corporation seem like evil bad guys.”

@junk_mom @Sylvaniandrama I support your right to play 😌❤️ #sylvanianfamilies #sylvanianfamiliestiktok #sylvaniandrama #youtube #toy #toys #sue #suing #news #opinion #legal #sylvanianfamily #sylvanianfamiliescollection ♬ original sound – Pumpkin Head

She went on to say that Epoch should have approached Von Engelbrechten for an exclusive advertising deal. This may be what the two parties are currently negotiating in the settlement talks, but we’ll have to wait and see.

The TikToker further argued that the adult content in the videos just opens up a whole new market for Epoch.

“That’s more of a TikTok issue,” she said. “Who’s watching those videos, if they’re children or if they’re adults. But for the most part … they’re older teenagers and adults, and as a result, you have a whole new market of people who want to buy something because it’s trendy.”

Commenters on this video widely agreed that Epoch made the wrong move.

“Sylvanian families just f****d themselves over so bad, I’m never buying any again and I won’t let my family buy anymore,” vowed @pierogiiz.ace.

“Just remember all corporations ARE big evil bad guys,” noted @cryptwizard.

“LPS, Bratz, and Barbie would have so many cases if they were this petty,” @lil_mushroomlady pointed out.

“These companies HATE free marketing so much,” wrote @ahego48.