Kung Fu Panda Comparisons are Valid and Intended

[helheim]

They are not valid. Pandaren have always been asian influenced since they were first thought up by Samwise. They are also not the only fiction to use a race of panda men that are asian influenced. The poster thing is ridiculous. They are both standing in a typical martial arts stand and have a pagoda in the back ground. Disney did not invent martial arts or pagodas. Epicurean is more a reference to their laid back nature (also evident in their love of beer/ale) and their obvious girth. Inner Peace is a staple of any martial arts. But ok, I will give you Bouncy. That one might be a reference to that movie. So you are 1 for 4. Congrats, you solved the grand conspiracy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranma_%C2%BD

i highly suggest taking a look at this. blizzard did not invent the "pandaren".

this anime came out in 1987.

[Yig]

Pandaren have always been obsessed with food, drink, and enjoying life. TBC predated Kung Fu Panda, and all these traits existed at that time when they were almost the Alliance race. Really, caricaturing a Chinese warrior bear sort of speaks for itself. You would expect emergent traits. Bears have been depicted as sleepy gluttons for decades in cartoons. Chinese bears add martial arts.

[Wynnyelle]

You're an impressionable little twerp.

Thank you.
I'm not saying that MoP ripped off of Kung Fu Panda or anything, because it didn't. But that's not going to stop people from thinking of it since they're so alike. Pretty sure that everybody in the world is impressionable, by the way. Everybody got an impression from the trailer.

[Yig]

I am intrigued by the Princess Mononoke like addition of the way the Pandaren have to avoid hatred and rage, because it physically manifests as a demonic entity if they do. Thus, even when fighting they must maintain peace of mind.

[StationaryHawk]

Thank you.
I'm not saying that MoP ripped off of Kung Fu Panda or anything, because it didn't. But that's not going to stop people from thinking of it since they're so alike. Pretty sure that everybody in the world is impressionable, by the way. Everybody got an impression from the trailer.

There's a large difference between seeing a similarity, and calling it a blatant rip-off, which the majority of haters seem to be doing. I'm perfectly fine with people being reminded, or thinking of Kung-Fu Panda when they see a Pandaren Monk, but to claim them to be one and the same is simply ignorant.

[Danur]

This thread isn't meant as criticism of the similarities or to judge the value of the Pandaren to WoW. It's simply meant to point out how blatant the similarities are between the two and how these new Pandaren are far more similar to KFP than they are to the WC3 Brewmaster.

1. Pandaren reveal trailer

Here is a comparison of the Pandaren reveal and an international poster for Kung Fu Panda 2:
http://imgur.com/a/kF3gN

The only major difference in stance is that the left leg is back instead of forward. The sun is in the same location. The temple is on the right instead of directly behind, but uses the exact same coloring (which is far from the most common, especially for temples). The environment is likewise similar. Obviously it's not identical, that would mean lawsuits. But it's undeniably similar.

A company like Blizzard does not *accidentally* make a major product preview so similar to another major product preview of a similar theme. They have entire departments devoted to ensuring that does not happen. Unless you believe that Blizzard is utterly incompetent, you realize that - at the very least - they were aware (beforehand) how similar their reveal would be to KFP and decided to keep it that way.

2. Racial traits remove any doubt

Gourmand/Epicurean: Po loved food and ate in excess (which is the exact definition of Gourmand). He was also a cook. There's really no argument here. Blizzard did not pull those traits out of thin air and just happen to have them match KFP exactly while having nothing to do with the WC3 Brewmaster.

Inner Peace: Inner Peace plays a large, mentioned-by-name role in KFP, with Po told that if he finds it, it will lead to a drastic improvement in the speed of his training. Herp derp, rested exp. Again, exact reference to KFP, yet has absolutely nothing to do with the WC3 Pandaren Brewmaster. Unless you consider a drunken haze to be Inner Peace.

Bouncy: Some may have initially thought that this was some sort of reference to cuddly bears or something, but think back to how much bouncing around Po did and the actual source of the name becomes clear. This also has nothing to do with the hardy, drunken-brawling, never-falling WC3 Brewmaster.

---

Merely having a Panda-like creature in WC3 does not get Blizz off the hook for the similarities, especially not when the Pandaren revealed have much more in common with KFP than the WC3 Brewmaster. Again, this thread is not meant to be criticism of that fact, just to point out how the similarities are blatant, and too many + too exact to be coincidence. I don't know if it's a marketing tactic (pop culture reference = instant wider appeal) or if they were just looking for inspiration to flesh out the idea, but it's there and it's undeniable.

Please stop saying that the comparison isn't valid unless you can explain the above similarities without arguing that they are a series of big, logic-defying coincidences that Blizzard's legal and PR departments mysteriously missed.

THANK YOU

I haven't read the rest of your thread yet, but I'm sure the drooling Blizzard-can-do-no-wrong fanboys have somehow missed your obvious points, and have resorted to non sequitur and strawman attacks. Whatever, what you've said is perfectly on the money.

[JeeroyLenkins]

Everyone here who says "it's just Blizzard's typical pop culture reference" don't seem to get it. This isn't just some quest or side character, this is a WHOLE expansion with a whole set of lore and story behind it. To that carelessly infer a Kung Fu Panda connection (as they have) only lessens my enthusiasm for it, and lessens my respect for Blizzard as a whole.

[salpsan]

I think Kung-Fu Panda stole Blizzards idea not the other way around

this......most ppl dont realise because they havent played WC before WOW

[Drithien]

I am not sure that i undestand your first piece of evidence. The pandaren in Blizzard's trailer poses in a martial arts stance in a chinese-themed background. And you think that that is a blatant rip-off of Kung Fu Panda's promotional poster. If you were Blizzard, and wanted, in a single image, to present the theme of your next expansion what would you do? Show a night elf and not a pandaren, posing in a thinking stance and not a fighting stance, over a modern industrial area and not a chinese-themed country-side area? The new playable race, the pandaren, is shown, using a native-to-Pandaria martial arts stance, directly referencing the new playable class, the monks, over a chinese-themed country-side area, giving as a glimpse of the new continent introduced to the game, Pandaria, with a chinese-themed temple included partly in the picture, to make the reference more specific. Trying to think of this as objectively as I can, I think that this is a magnificent promotional image. It presents all the three major, new elements introduced to the game with the expansion. This is great promotional work, not a slizzy rip-off. To say that it is "undeniably similar" is a mystery. Who claimed they wouldn't be? They are two entertainment products with a heavy chinese culture theme, so they are bound to be somewhat similar. Really. Think about what you are saying. They rip-off the chinese country-side area? The continent of Pandaria is supposed to be inspired by chinese themes. What did you expect? The Death Star?

As for the racial traits. pandaren are known for their love for drinking, eating, and browling. So gourmand is a natural fit. Plus, "having nothing to do with the WC3 Brewmaster". Unless you missed it, which you seem to have to, the unit was called Brewmaster. What else did Blizzard had to do to make it understandable that the pandaren have a lot to do with enjoying drinking and eating? You had paladins, death knights, wardens, blademasters, and... brewmasters. Is it that hard to notice the distinction? I think not.

Inner peace is kind of self-explainable. If you bother to try and think objectively about it. I am no Zen master, but even I know Kung Fu has a lot to do with concentration and finding your inner peace. Or do you really think that except for Blizzard the Kung Fu masters that have been around for thousands of years have also ripped-off Kung Fu Panda?

Bouncy is the only thing that is quite similar to Kung Fu Panda. Which may make it a reference of Blizzard to the movie, like all the other hundreds of references to popular and not-so-popular entertainment products that have been in the game up to now. However, also have in mind the portayal of Kung Fu martial artists in myth and movies. People travelling enormous distances in a single jump or jumping down of enormous heights and landing safely as if they jumped of a small step. It may as well be a reference to that.

So, I don't see the blatant rip-offs. The only thing I see is a possible reference in one thing. I think that there will be more references in the expansion, mostly in the form of quests, but that is one of Blizzard's traditions. I think that it is quite sad, this entire witch-hunting by some players. Almost nobody complained for the Nintendo references in Un Goro Crater, or Haris Pilton hanging around selling diamond rings in Shattrath. On the contrary people seemed to enjoy the references. And now we have some people wielding their literary pitch-forks and waving them menacingly in the air, trying to find something, anything, to stab with them. And all because of a game...

[StationaryHawk]

Everyone here who says "it's just Blizzard's typical pop culture reference" don't seem to get it. This isn't just some quest or side character, this is a WHOLE expansion with a whole set of lore and story behind it. To that carelessly infer a Kung Fu Panda connection (as they have) only lessens my enthusiasm for it, and lessens my respect for Blizzard as a whole.

You don't seem to get it, but I'll assume you simply haven't read the wealth of arguments in this thread alone, and therefore won't bother to restate them.

[Deleted]

lol they are similar only becuz they are both inspired by the same thing.. Asia

[Danur]

Everyone here who says "it's just Blizzard's typical pop culture reference" don't seem to get it. This isn't just some quest or side character, this is a WHOLE expansion with a whole set of lore and story behind it. To that carelessly infer a Kung Fu Panda connection (as they have) only lessens my enthusiasm for it, and lessens my respect for Blizzard as a whole.

Another poster dead on the money. This isn't the dalaran sewer rat teaching 4 turtles, or Harrison Jones in Uldum. This is an entire expansion. Christ why is this so hard to understand?

[Deleted]

Everyone here who says "it's just Blizzard's typical pop culture reference" don't seem to get it. This isn't just some quest or side character, this is a WHOLE expansion with a whole set of lore and story behind it. To that carelessly infer a Kung Fu Panda connection (as they have) only lessens my enthusiasm for it, and lessens my respect for Blizzard as a whole.

Do you think Kung Fu Panda was an entirely original piece of work or do you think that too was based on some pre-existing "stuff"?

It wasn't. Everything is borrowed from someplace or another, you can argue that Blizzard are doing a shameless "entire expansion popculture reference" ordeal here or you can use a wee hint of common sense and realise there's alot more to this than you'd know from just watching movies.

There's alot more to martial art pandas than Kung Fu Panda, y'know.

---------- Post added 2011-10-23 at 02:31 AM ----------

Another poster dead on the money. This isn't the dalaran sewer rat teaching 4 turtles, or Harrison Jones in Uldum. This is an entire expansion. Christ why is this so hard to understand?

Becaused it's biased and ignorant, perhaps?

[StationaryHawk]

Another poster dead on the money. This isn't the dalaran sewer rat teaching 4 turtles, or Harrison Jones in Uldum. This is an entire expansion. Christ why is this so hard to understand?

My post applies for you too. You're welcome to read the rest of the thread.

[Lord Blackmore]

I haven't read the rest of your thread yet, but I'm sure the drooling Blizzard-can-do-no-wrong fanboys have somehow missed your obvious points, and have resorted to non sequitur and strawman attacks. Whatever, what you've said is perfectly on the money.

You're missing the point. Whether comparisons are valid or not, it simpy does not matter. You guys are harping on a point that people who think MoP looks good like and people who are already hating on MoP additional "evidence" how how bad Blizzard sucks.

[Skizzit]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranma_%C2%BD

i highly suggest taking a look at this. blizzard did not invent the "pandaren".

this anime came out in 1987.
[video=youtube;jMut0S93rRM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMut0S93rRM[/video

Blizzard did invent the Pandaren. That doesn't mean then invented the idea of an anthropomorphic Panda. In fact, I even said that they are not the first to use a race of panda men that are asian influenced.

[Valort]

A simple thing: Pandaren were in WoW before Kung Fu panda was created. Now, you could say "But why are they so similar?", well, Kung Fu Panda is freaking huge. I mean, people from children to grandparents enjoyed the movies. Everything was well-made, the story was nice and kept a good pace while also being family friendly, making children enjoy, and adults laugh at the slapstick humor and hidden messages.

So, why should blizz play a bit on that side? The more people can relate to your product, the more your product sells.

Also, most of these animated movies take many of their ideas, even down to entire scenes, from older movies, tv series or comic books.

This is the way business works. If you create something that gives people connotations of things they liked/enjoyed/recognize, your product will sell better than a complete unknown. For the most recent example in the gaming industry: "We're not in azeroth anymore".

So in this game, you have people getting connotations from Kung Fu Panda, connotations from Pokemon, and connotations from the Discworld series. All in 1. Bound to appeal to many fans of those 3 things.

[Deleted]

blablablabla useless random stuff come out of my fingers without any brain filter behind.

fixed for you.

[Deleted]

I am intrigued by the Princess Mononoke like addition of the way the Pandaren have to avoid hatred and rage, because it physically manifests as a demonic entity if they do. Thus, even when fighting they must maintain peace of mind.

wait what about Pandaran warriors?
actually didn't see that before now.
Oh there is so much rage in the ally-hord war, see se the next xp fleeing from Pandarian from huge Sha invasions.

[Joodoc]

pandas love food, ofc that fits.

those pictures are actually not very similar, color yes, but the background focus for kungfu panda 2 is in the middle, a huge temple, with sun shining down. The background focus is the left third of the picture, where rocks stick out,a nd it isn't very imposing, unlike the temple. Also, the green is expected, they are pandas. You dont' really see pandas in the desert now do you?

also, those two poses aren't that similar, Po's is set with defensive stance but ready to fight, while the pandaren looks like more like he jsut jumped off a rock and landed there, but with flair