Sylvanian Families (シルバニアファミリー, Shirubania Famirī) is a line of collectible anthropomorphic animal figurines made of flocked plastic.

At the beginning of production, on March 20, 1985, Sylvanian Families were created and released in Japan by Epoch, which uses the concept of dollhouses and anthropomorphic animal figures.

The toyline was originally titled Pleasant Friends of the Forest Epoch System Collection Animal Toy Sylvanian Families (森のゆかいな仲間たち エポック社 システム・コレクション・アニマルトーイ・シルバニアファミリー, Mori noyu kaina nakama-tachi Epokkusha shisutemu korekushon animarutōi shirubania famirī), but was changed to its current name.

Tomy stopped selling Calico Critters, but a new company, International Playthings, now called Epoch Everlasting Play, picked up the line.

In 1999, the toyline celebrated its 15th anniversary in Japan, with the opening of the themed restaurant Sylvanian Forest Kitchen (シルバニア森のキッチン, Shirubania mori no kitchin), which was operated and managed by Epoch.

In 2005, the franchise hosted its first live event titled Sylvanian Families Musical~The Big Commotion on the Eve of the Party!

The best selling was an Otter boat, and a reintroduced Dalmatian Family who now wore party hats that read "Happy 20th!".

[citation needed] In 2010, the franchise again hosted two musicals, Sylvanian Families Exciting Musical (シルバニアファミリーわくわくミュージカル, Shirubania famirī wakuwaku myūjikaru) and Sylvanian Families Exciting Stage (シルバニアファミリーわくわくステージ, Shirubania famirī wakuwaku sutēji), which both became a staple on promoting the toys in conventions.

[6] In 2015, a series of tableaux by the British artist Mimsy featuring Sylvanian Families being threatened by "MICE-IS" terrorists was banned from the Passion for Freedom exhibition.

[4] The entire franchise is set in Sylvania (シルバニア, Shirubania), a fictional village somewhere in North America, later revised to Great Nature.

[11] The characters, grouped into families, originally depicted typical woodland creatures such as rabbits, squirrels, bears, beavers, hedgehogs, foxes, deer, owls, raccoons, otters, skunks and mice, and later expanded to other animals such as cats, dogs, hamsters, guinea pigs, penguins, monkeys, cows, sheep, pigs, elephants, pandas, kangaroos, koalas, meerkats, and sea lions.

In 2017, a 12-episode animated television short series titled Sylvanian Families Mini Stories was also produced by Shogakukan Music and Digital Entertainment and aired on TV Tokyo in Japan from October 7 to December 23.

A film adaptation produced by Frebari titled Sylvanian Families the Movie: A Gift from Freya (劇場版 シルバニアファミリー フレアからのおくりもの, Gekijōban Shirubania Famirī Furea kara no okuri mono) was released on November 23, 2023.

Directed by Hinata Takano and Kaito Iwata, the series is written by Uiko Miura with Rika Kihara and Mika Tanii, and the music is composed by Yuichi "Masa" Nonaka.