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.

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

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.)

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

if you want to keep your MJ zombie...

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.  "

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

" @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. "

" 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.) "

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

Your fish are dead.

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

" @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. "

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"?

" 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.

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.

"

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"?

"

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

deleted

 I liked the M.J. zombie better  

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

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

I don't really understand the need for this.

I expected a zombie fish in the boots.

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.

I need me some fish shoes.

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

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.

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

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.

lawyers suck

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.

 
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

Looks okay...

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

love the dead fish in the shoe

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

Time to boogeyoogeyoogey

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

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

The goldfish in the shoe is a really nice touch

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.

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

i really like the MJ one too...

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.

Waugh! O.O

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.

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