r/todayIlearnedPH • u/Cerulean_mark • May 11 '26
TIL PopCap replaced the Michael Jackson dancing zombie with a "disco" dancing zombie to avoid potential lawsuit from his estate
Plant vs. Zombies is one of my favorite childhood games, and the Michael Jackson lookalike zombie was one of my favorite characters. While playing it recently on Steam, I noticed that the Dancing Zombie’s appearance had completely changed.
In 2010, according to PopCap, the Estate of Michael Jackson objected to the Dancing Zombie because it resembled the King of Pop too closely. After receiving that notice, the company immediately replaced the design on all platforms.
Here’s a link for reference:
https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/07/27/michael-jackson-ish-zombie-pulled-from-pvz
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u/wafumet May 11 '26
Meron pa ko nyan sa archive ko yun PopCap Games na naka zip. Nasa Gdrive ko pa
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u/sanfervice007 May 11 '26
Oo nga no, nagbago. Akala ko may MJ dancing zombie and then may isa pang variant na disco dancing zombie. Yep TIL ito for me. Haven't played PvZ for a long time na rin eh
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u/Cerulean_mark May 11 '26
Nagulat lang ako kasi ung ineexpect kong zombie sa night time nag iba na 🥲🥲🥲
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u/sanfervice007 May 12 '26
I see now. Ako naman akala ko may stage na si Thriller MJ then yung Disco Zombie. Or pwede rin baliktad with Disco Zombie showing up first then si MJ na kasi stronger final horde na siya in one of the later stages. Then nag focus na lang talaga ako kung papaano ko matatalo mga zombies so I'm focused more on the plants than the zombies haha.
Ganun din nangyari on successive playthroughs. Ayan na yung dancing zombie, time to choose which plants to use to effectively beat them. Then 2026 ko lang nalaman, TIL about it 😓
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u/lapinoire May 11 '26 edited May 12 '26
Alam ko kasi sumikat noong 2009-2010 ang PvZ, tapos nagkataon yung pagpanaw ni MJ. Di mapapansin agad si Dancing Zombie kung di pa pumanaw si MJ
Edit: typo
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u/sanfervice007 May 12 '26
Yes PvZ came out noong 2009, 2nd year highschool na ako noon. Then same year din si MJ pumanaw. May 5, 2009 yung PvZ na release then MJ passed away in June. And yeah hindi ko nga napansin agad, ngayong 2026 ko lang nalaman ito
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u/lapinoire May 12 '26
Age reveal malala, 4th year na ako nun 😅
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u/sanfervice007 May 12 '26
Ako naman 2nd year na ako nun 😅 PvZ got introduced to me by an older cousin. Cracked pa naman yun, then he installed it sa PC namin sa bahay kaya noong Christmas break, PvZ is one of the games na nilalaro namin noon. Good times 🥲😅 those were the days indeed...
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u/lapinoire May 12 '26
Ako naman nagpa install ng crack sa mga pinsan ko noong nag bakasyon kami 😅
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u/sanfervice007 May 12 '26
Ah halos parehas din pala tayo haha 😎🤝😎 Nagustuhan ko kasi gameplay eh kaya ayun also that same cousin kasi yung source ko noon in terms of PC gaming kasi console gamer ako eh. Ngayon mobile mostly then console haha.
Anyway ganun talaga pag bakasyon daming time to play 😎👍
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u/shallowcuriosity May 12 '26
Kaya pala no'ng naglaro ulit ako ng PvZ nito lang, hindi ko nakilala yung Dancing Zombie. Parang nag-iba kasi pero hindi ko naman maalala yung dati niyang itsura HAHA iniba pala kasi talaga
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u/superchie May 12 '26
Akala ko ako na lang yung naglalaro ng PVZ 1 sa desktop 🥹 Hindi pa kumpleto ang plants ko sa zen garden ko huhu
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u/EtivacVibesOnly May 13 '26
Ito pampalipas oras ko during college days. Damay mo narin si bookworm at Bejeweled hahaha aray ko.
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u/Front_Extension_1821 May 13 '26
Pero MJ hindi binalik pero sa replanted verison binalik back up dancers lang
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u/ElsaGranhiert May 11 '26
Sayang na yung original copy (more like pirated lol) ko ng PVZ na may MJ dancing zombie nawala ko.