Beloved toy firm sues over unhinged viral skits depicting dolls as sex-crazed alcoholics

One of Tiktok’s most popular parody channels, Sylvaniandrama, was once-beloved for their unhinged skits involving the little animal families: parodying everything from kidnapping, drug abuse, to divorce. However, fans were confused when the channel suddenly went quiet several months ago.

Now, it’s come to light that the creator behind the channel, Thea Von Engelbrechten, has been sued in the US by the company behind Sylvanian Familiesover her videos. The company claim Von Engelbrechten's videos have caused “irreparable injury” to their reputation.

Thea, from Kildare, Ireland, was just 19 when she started the channel back in 2021 – and the videos quickly skyrocketed in popularity. She currently has over 2.5 million followers on TikTok and one million on Instagram. However, they also eventually caught the attention of Epoch Company Ltd., the Japanese toy and video game company who own Sylvanian Families.

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Epoch filed a lawsuit against the creator, claiming the videos could confuse potential purchasers of Sylvanian Families toys into believing that they have been produced or authorised by Epoch.

They're also suing her over issues pertaining to copyright – including “creating, publishing, and disseminating online advertising videos” on the back of brand deals with companies like Marc Jacobs and Burberry.

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A pre-trial conference has been set for August 14, when the legal teams from both sides will meet to explore settlement options or prepare the case for trial.

News of the lawsuit has caused fan uproar on social media, with many believing that the videos have actually helped promote Sylvanians online. TikTok account @junk_mom posted: “Imagine if every little girl that ever posted a video on YouTube making her stuffed animals talk to each other was sued by the corporation that made those stuffed animals.” She continued to say that Sylvaniandrama “opened up a lot of new people to the Sylvanian toys.”

“Sylvanian drama is literally doing free advertising for them, that’s so sad,” one comment added. “Why sue her she’s literally giving them customers,” another wrote.

A third pointed out that many other people have also created channels around creating fake scenarios with popular toys. They wrote: "It's like the old videos on YouTube we'd watch as a kid of people doing the same thing with Barbie's... It's always been a thing."

The Mirror has reached out to Epoch and Sylvaniandrama for comment.

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