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Sylvanian Families, AKA Calico Critters, targets parody account [1]

['Rob Beschizza']

Date: 2025-07-22

The makers of Sylvanian Families (AKA Calico Critters), the charming lineup of Moomin-like creatures living in a bourgeois forest fantasy land, is suing a parodist who poses the toys in less bucolic scenes. Epoch Company Ltd, the Japanese company which makes them, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in the US saying the videos are causing "irreparable injury" to its reputation. Naturally, the company's attack on Thea Von Engelbrechten's Sylvanian Drama Tik Tok channel has resulted in it becoming even more successful than it already is.

Episodes of Sylvanian Drama have captions such as "My marriage is falling apart," "The police are out of control" and "Why are you in our territory?" Adventures range from "My boyfriend won't post me to his Instagram" to "Wanna relapse tonight?" and "We're forming a rebel group." The channel has millions of followers.

If brands are usually tolerant of infringing amusements, the fact that Marc Jacobs, Burberry, Netflix and Hilton have reportedly advertised with the channel may account for Epoch's litigious response.

The court document states that in an interview with influencer marketing company Fohr, Ms Von Engelbrechten said her inspiration for the storylines came from "cringey TV shows and early 2000s comedy". She went on: "I'm also really inspired by my cats because they are extremely sassy and self-obsessed and can be so cute, but they also have no morals when it comes to killing other animals. I try to embody that with the Sylvanians."

Another quote: "Maybe it's because it's coming from the voice of a 22-year-old who struggles with the same things as [they do]. I have a lot of storylines about insecure people, diet culture, toxic men, and sustainability, which I think other girls my age are also thinking a lot about."

Previously: Experience the charm of Sylvanian Families at their theme park in Osaka, Japan

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