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Plants Vs. Zombies Jackson Replacement Zombie Looks Sharp, Disco-y

Not bad. Not bad at all.

At some point, all new purchasers of Plants vs. Zombies won't remember the Dancing Zombie like we do. They'll know it as a disco-themed character, plucked straight out of a period satire. Equipped with gaudy, pink-tinted goggles the size of beer bottle bottoms, bulbous jewelry, fish-tank platform shoes, and a suit that my father would have died for, this replacement zombie does, at least, make for quite the first impression.

PC Gamer recently got hold of the first big shot of the monster (below), and even coaxed a comment from the zombie, who as described by game creator PopCap Games, is starting to think of itself as a "second class citizen."

“Dear Alive Peeples, I am pleazed too join the big brainz at PopCap and can’t wait to meat you all. And yes, I du my own heir," the disco zombie said in a statement. 

No Caption Provided
== TEASER ==The disco zombie is the replacement for the Michael Jackson "Thriller" zombie, which debuted in the game before the musician died. Jackson's estate has since taken issue with the look of the moon-walking zombie, and PopCap Games was forced to make a "business decision" and remove the character from even current versions of the game.  
 
The iPhone version of the game was the first to feature the disco zombie. Although I can't confirm it, I'm assuming that the Game of the Year Edition of the game, which is now available on PopCap Games official website (and free for those who bought previous versions from the same place), won't have the Jackson zombie. The good news is that you'll be able to make your own with the game's character creator, provided that you go into the monumental project with just a wee bit of imagination.    

152 Comments

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toowalrus

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Edited By toowalrus

He was a Zombie if fucking Thriller, what the FUCK! Seriously, I can't believe this offended ANYONE! Thriller was his most popular music video, the most popular video on the PLANET! Christ.

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Mercutio

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Edited By Mercutio

Now the zombie looks like Elton John in the 70s!

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SaturdayNightSpecials

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Lawsuit from Elton John incoming. 
 
(Also, is this really worth writing a news story about? Anyone who hasn't heard about this by now probably doesn't care.)

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TheDarkPrince

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Edited By TheDarkPrince

 It Was A Parody.... But It's All Just About Money

the MJ zombie was a parody so they could of keep it in the game due to "fair use" policy opf US Copyright law MJ's people just want to make as much money as possible that why they released this is it (i haven't seen it) and that why they are  releasing future albms containing michels unrealeased recordings. 
 
 

if you want to keep your MJ zombie...

 
 then buy a physical Retail Copy they wont update that  they will probably  release a voluntarily patch for it but who knows.. (>_<)
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deactivated-5abeb9715d7a2

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@Branthog said:
There shouldn't be any copyright concern, what with fair use and parody. There shouldn't be any concern about taste, either. Seriously, after all the things thrown at Jackson in the public arena and the court of law and the things that will be remembered and assumed about him for eternity (despite legal innocence, etc) -- is being depicted as a zombie (a reference to Thriller) in a videogame even remotely offensive or off putting or in poor taste?  If it is, then all copies of Thriller should be taken off shelves and iTunes. It should be considered poor form to ever play the song or video in any context ever again.  "
My thoughts exactly.  The estate is just looking for more money.  They don't really care about MJ being depicted as a Zombie, so long as they're getting cash from it.  He looked no more silly than any other zombie in the game did, and while the disco zombie IS cool, it's not as great as the Thriller zombie was.
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PeepingTommy

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Edited By PeepingTommy

Why is this news? I've had the replacement on my iphone for  a couple of days.

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Clinkz

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Edited By Clinkz
@CandleJakk said:
" @fwylo said:
" Fair enough. Why is there a fish in his shoe?  Is his shoe made of ice? "
Because, I think he's parodying Disco Stu, from the Simpsons. "
And disco stu was parodying the 70's actually footwear. Come on guys.
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deactivated-5fb7c57ae2335

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@528seven said:
" Lawsuit from Elton John incoming.  (Also, is this really worth writing a news story about? Anyone who hasn't heard about this by now probably doesn't care.) "
This comment says pretty much everything I want to say.
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pickassoreborn

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Edited By pickassoreborn

I thought the fish shoes was a reference to I'm Gonna Git You Sucka... 
 
 

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FrankCastle

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Edited By FrankCastle

Your fish are dead.

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Afro_Stevens

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Edited By Afro_Stevens

While the Michael Jackson zombie was a lot of fun, this seems like an appropriate replacement.

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Meowshi

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Edited By Meowshi
@Doppelgamer said:
" @Branthog said:
There shouldn't be any copyright concern, what with fair use and parody. There shouldn't be any concern about taste, either. Seriously, after all the things thrown at Jackson in the public arena and the court of law and the things that will be remembered and assumed about him for eternity (despite legal innocence, etc) -- is being depicted as a zombie (a reference to Thriller) in a videogame even remotely offensive or off putting or in poor taste?  If it is, then all copies of Thriller should be taken off shelves and iTunes. It should be considered poor form to ever play the song or video in any context ever again.  "
My thoughts exactly.  The estate is just looking for more money.  They don't really care about MJ being depicted as a Zombie, so long as they're getting cash from it.  He looked no more silly than any other zombie in the game did, and while the disco zombie IS cool, it's not as great as the Thriller zombie was. "
You guys really don't see why they care that their recently diseased celebrity is portrayed as a zombie?  Are you serious?  I hope you're just being intentionally block-headed.   
 
You may not agree with their concerns, but to say that you don't see why they have them is...well, dumb.
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DragonBloodthirsty

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Yes, let us scrub all Michael Jackson references from our world so that he can be as forgotten after death as he was in life.

Seriously, I think this falls under the domain of "parody".  What ever happened to "All publicity is good publicity"?

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Kenshiro28

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Edited By Kenshiro28
@Meowshi: the zombie existed before he died.
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deactivated-5abeb9715d7a2

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@Meowshi said:
" You guys really don't see why they care that their recently diseased celebrity is portrayed as a zombie?  Are you serious?  I hope you're just being intentionally block-headed.    You may not agree with their concerns, but to say that you don't see why they have them is...well, dumb.
We obviously know that respect might be part of their request, but since he himself chose to portray himself as a zombie decades before, the Plants vs Zombies cameo was done before he died, and since the estate of MJ is still making money off Thriller videos... Well perhaps we wonder if they're being hypocritical, and that the real reason may involve royalties and not respect.  If not for that, then yes, I might be inclined to agree.

Next time, don't make assumptions as to what we think, without asking for clarification first.  It's rude.
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nick_verissimo

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Edited By nick_verissimo

I really liked the zombie MJ and I definitely know that I laughed when I saw it pop up on screen.  Kind of bummed that I updated the game last night without reading this first, oh well, disco stu zombie is fine by me.

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lizcav

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Edited By lizcav
@DragonBloodthirsty said:
"

Yes, let us scrub all Michael Jackson references from our world so that he can be as forgotten after death as he was in life.

Seriously, I think this falls under the domain of "parody".  What ever happened to "All publicity is good publicity"?

"
Exactly. It's not like there is a direct "likeness" there. Yes the zombie does the moves and wears the "thriller-era" costume. But it does not look like Jackson. 
I wonder how far we should go. 
Should deceased "models" for game characters be allowed to pull content....?
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bosshog70

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Edited By bosshog70

It's a shame that the Michael Jackson Thriller themed zombie has to go as it fits the game so well

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lolwot

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Edited By lolwot

deleted

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catseye

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Edited By catseye

 I liked the M.J. zombie better  

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Crizex

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Edited By Crizex

It was messed up to have a dead person as a zombie, and the replacements fits the role.

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grimi

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Edited By grimi

We'll as long as I don't update the game I keep my old Thriller zombie.

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Adrenaline

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Edited By Adrenaline

I don't really understand the need for this.

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Aleril

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Edited By Aleril

I expected a zombie fish in the boots.

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ILostOnJeprody

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Edited By ILostOnJeprody

I'm interested in seeing if/how they changed the walk.  I definitely like the new design, though I lament the loss of the thriller zombie.

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wafflestomp

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Edited By wafflestomp

I need me some fish shoes.

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megaplushie

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Edited By megaplushie

Plants vs Zombies won't be the same without Zombie Jackson even if it does have new achievements (at least in the iPhone version).

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aacurrie

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Edited By aacurrie

It's too bad it had to come to this, but the family is going to do what it can to protect their copyright. I like the disco stu inspired replacement though.

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manderson

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Edited By manderson

While I understand intellectual property rights and such, this is disappointing.

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logson

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Edited By logson

I was expecting more bad jokes about Michael Jackson in this thread. Bravo, GB, doing me proud. 
 
Also, I welcome any character with sweet sweet chest hair.

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mighty_marcos

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Edited By mighty_marcos

lawyers suck

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Realfruitjuice

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Edited By Realfruitjuice

Nope, I do not approve the character change. I don't see anything wrong with the game's originlal MJ charater design as the image is basically linked to MJ's Thriller character, an icon of our pop-culture.

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Edited By bybeach

 
Silly F***ing shit, but thats how it goes. A-holes..(not the plant v zombie ppl.) 
 
Gotta luv the fish shoes, hopfully the company behing 'I'm gpnna Git you sucka!' won't start screaming.  Of course they won't, but my suspicion is money is more key than memories

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Wormy22

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Edited By Wormy22

Looks okay...

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Death_Burnout

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Edited By Death_Burnout

Completely valid response! i had a feeling disco stu was the only way to go.

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grizzly311

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Edited By grizzly311

love the dead fish in the shoe

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blasterer

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Edited By blasterer

Zombie MJ isn't gonna get patched out of my current Steam copy, is he? That would be weeeeaaaak.

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DuncanTurner

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Edited By DuncanTurner

Disco Stu Zombie likes Disco music.
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choffy21

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Edited By choffy21

Time to boogeyoogeyoogey

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Constable_Wiggum

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Edited By Constable_Wiggum

The only thing better is if they brought in Zombie Richard Simmons.

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ReleaseTheAnts

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Edited By ReleaseTheAnts

I laughed really hard at the dead goldfish in the platforms, shout out to "I'm gonna get you sucka"

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Travis

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Edited By Travis

The goldfish in the shoe is a really nice touch

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usedtype

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Edited By usedtype

Disco Stu was introduced as a good punchline to a joke.  The moment he became a recurring character on The Simpsons, he became lame.   This zombie is clearly a parody of the disco persona and NOT a parody of Disco Stu since a parody of a parody is almost as lame as Stu himself.

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Wasara88

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Edited By Wasara88

Suprisingly good replacement,but i will not update my copy of PvP.

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willwithskills

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Edited By willwithskills
@Branthog: 
Yeah, that's a good point. It's a bit different, but I suppose it should be not a big deal considering everything else that has been said about Michael Jackson. Oh well, I won't miss that zombie very much anyway. The disco zombie is just as good in my book.
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coonce

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Edited By coonce

i really like the MJ one too...

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Clembo

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Edited By Clembo

I just lost all my respect for Popcap for caving in.
 
I'm pirating, or simply not playing, every game they ever make from this point in.

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Natalia

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Edited By Natalia

Waugh! O.O

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Ub3rSlug

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Edited By Ub3rSlug

The MJ Zombie was a great touch to PvZ, but this replacement isn't half bad either. It's definitely not the same, but it'll do.

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the_shref

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Edited By the_shref

ugh i really need to try this game. im just afraid im gonna end up addicted to it haha