Kung Fu Panda Comparisons are Valid and Intended

[Spliffy]

Im just fuzzed about the fact that there was nothing about Pandas in any other warcraft game, safe for that ONE hero you COULD ( You didnt have to ) hire from a Tavern, i dont get how people can use that as a just reson for an entire expansion about some race that was hiding through all the 3 wars with the legion, survived both the Cataclysm and the Scourge and yet noone has ever heard of them. I couldnt care less if these were pandas or cats, lore wise it makes 0 sense. Atleast the blue space goats had a story along with the Orcs before they crash landed in their space ship...

[Deleted]

Im just fuzzed about the fact that there was nothing about Pandas in any other warcraft game, safe for that ONE hero you COULD ( You didnt have to ) hire from a Tavern

You're forgetting Chen Stormstout, who will be a major player in the coming expansion. Perhaps not in the flesh (we don't know yet), but at the very least his brewery will be an instance.

[Sand Person]

lets face it! KFP ruined the image of pandas for the "serious" or "mature" players in the wow community. i bet if the movie never came out, many wouldn't be so mad at blizz. unfortunately, you can't convince peoples that MoP will be good because of the tarnished images of cuteness. in so many peoples eyes, MoP will be forever a child's xpac. i'll just sit back an laugh at the idiocracy of all these MoP hater's "reasoning" for why it will suck. but then again, to each his own opinions. have fun!

[senshu]

You're forgetting Chen Stormstout, who will be a major player in the coming expansion. Perhaps not in the flesh (we don't know yet), but at the very least his brewery will be an instance.

Pretty sure that's who he was talking about.

[Deleted]

What difference do academic similarities make when the subject matter and tone are completely different? Did Po run around a battlefield cleaving human beings in two with a giant axe?

No.

Will Pandaren warriors be doing this in WoW?
Yes.

Will Pandaren Monks be kicking people in the head until they die?
Yes.

Will there be Messed up looking mutated/corrupt Pandaren who have fallen to the Sha?
Monster concepts say yes.

Does anything remotely in tone with these sorts of things happen in Kung Fu Panda?
No.

The differences in tone and context are many, and not worth listing but I trust the point I'm trying to make is clear nonetheless.

Winnie the Pooh is a bear. Most WoW Druids can be bears. WoW must be copying Winnie the Pooh.
Sure.

[lukyl]

http://www.wowpedia.org/Pandaren
/end thread.

[Bound4Earth]

The OP is obviously trolling us all. Either that or he hasn't been playing Blizzard games long or is a serious Kung Fu Panda fanboi. Blizzard is not now nor has it ever been an original concept company. They've borrowed ideas from other people for every game they've ever done. The reason why people still love the games is that they can tell some kick ass stories with the borrowed content. Well until you get to Starcraft II, but that's a story for another time. Kung Fu Panda is quite possibly the most original concept Blizzard has ever done and to compare it to a movie that came out years after the concept was developed is stupid. That's like bashing Playstation for coming out with webcam games, because Nintendo did it first yet computers started the concept.

Kung Fu Panda obviously copied Blizzard in at least the concept stage and ran with it. Blizzard comes back to the Pandarens after a good chunk of the fans have been asking for it for years and Kung Fu Panda fanbois cry foul...What the fuck is going on here? You obviously need to go back and look at the original artwork or in game models. They look almost identical to the current pandaren model. Hell if anything they scaled the faces down from the original model, so they don't resemble that fat panda face from the movie. Your biggest claim is that Blizzard made a character that looks like a panda...wasn't that the point of making a panda race.

Go compare an overly fat panda in shorts in front of a mountain next to two statues doing a kung fu pose trying to karate chop you to one in an asianesque background with no mountains or temple directly behind him and say its the same because it has a building in a similar place? Also the Pandaren isn't karate chop posing. He's just preparing to throw a blow. Is leaning back and then into a throw trademarked now??? You should actually go back and compare the two pictures, but this time throw that bias out. the kung Fu Panda has tiny little stubs for hands a circle for a head and body and bloblike apendages for arms and legs, in other words they made him into a very very very jolly panda. The Pandaren has a much much much smaller head, huge hands, doesn't weigh 3-4,000 pounds, and actually has clothes on.

TLDR: either the World's Greatest Troll here or mentally handicapped Kung Fu Panda fanboi. My vote goes to the latter.

Mod Edit: Infracted, No need to insult people.

[senshu]

http://www.wowpedia.org/Pandaren
/end thread.

"Comparisons are valid and intended" is not the same thing as "ripped off".

[Ogretron]

Even if Blizzard created the fighting panda first, it is a horrible idea to bring them into the game now that Kung Fu Panda became so famous. People will always associate the two.

[senshu]

Even if Blizzard created the fighting panda first, it is a horrible idea to bring them into the game now that Kung Fu Panda became so famous. People will always associate the two.

If they were going to do this, they should have done it back in TBC.

[Drifted]

Amusing how some pop cultural refrences are deemed as "ripoff" when some are "brilliant". Don't take this game too seriously. Go play your SW:TOR/Aion/Rift if you want pokerface serious world and lore without any humor.

[Zulkanja]

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.

Let's start at Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne

Released: 2003
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warcraf..._Frozen_Throne

The expansion pack to Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos, introduced many new features. One of which was Neutral Heroes. One of these new heroes was in actual fact the Pandaren Brewmaster.

Hailing from the secretive Pandaren Empire, the mighty brewmasters travel the world in search of exotic ales and the finest brewed spirits. These affable warriors rarely seek out danger or trouble, preferring instead to spend their time concocting new and tasty beverages for any brave enough to imbibe them. However, if attacked, the laughing brewmasters bring all of their pandaren agility and ferocity to bear! They are peerless warriors and world class drinkers all in one!

A warrior Hero, exceptional at absorbing damage and melee combat. The Brewmasters of Pandaria have emerged from the bamboo forests of their ancestors to bring their unique fighting style (and robust ales) to the highest bidder. Attacks land units.

The Pandaren Brewmaster is an excellent melee hero! He has several area effecting spells to take down groups of enemy troops and his ultimate is certainly one of the funniest spells in the game. His basic combo is to cast Drunken Haze on the enemy to douse them, and then set them on fire with Breath of Fire. He also has the Drunken Brawler Passive skill which gives him a chance to avoid enemy attacks as well as a chance to deal bonus damage. His Ultimate splits him into three elemental pandas, each with their own powers.

...

Source: http://classic.battle.net/war3/neutr...ewmaster.shtml

Kung Fu Panda

Released: 2008
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Fu_Panda

Now, on to your post.

You talk about comparisons, and as everyone posted before me, noted and pointed out. It's wholly based on an Asian, martial-arts, zen-like theme. But, by your logic, then the Orcs from Warcraft is also a rip-off from the Orcs of Dungeons and Dragons, or even Lord of the Rings in the Tolkien universe. What about the humans, or even the elves? Living in forests, wielding bows. However, I think the "dilemma" here is mainly because it is a panda, trained in martial arts. It has been said before by many other posters, but let me re-itterate. We walk, talk, and fight among cow-like humanoids, werewolves, aliens. You know what? It's called fantasy! Use it, don't use it.

As for the racials. Aren't these racials what characterizes the character. Just because the Pandaren are "Bouncy", as well as Po, does it imply Blizzard is borrowing from another character/universe? Once again, let's look at the other races, look at the similarites across other stories/games. All elves, in almost every story/game uses bows, lives in forrests, are either nature bound, or celestial even. Celestial in the sense of the moon, stars and the sun. Trolls are known for regeneration, etc.

There are similarities, but so what? Nothing wrong with that in my humble opinion.

[Brince]

The panda hero in wc3 was based on the chinese martial arts and was created way before the movie.
Also Kung fu panda is a chinese martial arts based movie. Mist of pandaria is a chinese martial arts based expansion. It's not that strange they look similar.

[senshu]

Again, OP isn't saying pandaren are stolen from Kung Fu Panda. He is saying that, despite existing before KFP, Blizzard's implementation of pandaren is similar to KFP, for many reasons which have been listed in these 12 pages.

[Deleted]

I think it's time to close this thread, because by now, everyone is just repeating the same posts every other page.

We're not really getting anywhere.

Yes, Pandaren and martial arts existed before KFP.

Yes, Pandaren is OBVIOUSLY in-part inspired by KFP. Why wouldn't they be? 98% of the content in WoW is inspired by something else.

[senshu]

I think it's time to close this thread, because by now, everyone is just repeating the same posts every other page.

We're not really getting anywhere.

Yes, Pandaren and martial arts existed before KFP.

Yes, Pandaren is OBVIOUSLY in-part inspired by KFP. Why wouldn't they be? 98% of the content in WoW is inspired by something else.

Yeah, everything to say has been said.

[Deleted]

If you only count the obvious thing that in MoP and in KFP there is a Panda-like fighter, yes, I guess people will think of a similarity. In fact, because the movie was so popular, most people will have KFP in their mind at once, when they see Pandaren.
But that is where the similarity ends.

In KFP there was one Panda-boy. One. All the other people there were not Panda-like. His face is round or even sideways-oval-shaped, his head is white with small black parts around the eyes and black ears. He can cook, but he does not consider cooking an art (his father does), it is just a job. He eats a lot, but not because he enjoys the food or appreciates the work that went into it, but to swallow down his anger and frustration. In fact, when he gets his stuff together, he stops eating too much.

Now Pandaren. A culture that consists of Panda-people. Not only one, but all of them are Pandaren. They live in balance and harmony, cooking and brewing is considered an art, highly estimated. They eat, because they enjoy it, because they appreciate the work that went into it and consider eating good food one of the simple things in life that you should estimate highly.
The head of the one Panda-example we have seen so far is not completely round, but more triangle-ish and mostly black with only a little white fur in it, so you can just about see it's a Panda-based race.

All I see when I look at what we know about the Pandaren so far are beliefs and mythology based in ancient asian mythology or faiths, be that Daoism or Zen-Buddhism, Elements (five for the chinese version: fire, metal, wind, wood, earth, but I guess they will stick to the five we know in WoW), appreciating craftsmanship, appreciating down-to-earth people, enjoying the simple things in life, having a balance around and inside you (read: inner peace). Discipline when it comes to anger or emotions running high. These things btw are big topics in many asian themed movies too, especially the art of cooking and the inner peace and balance.
I will not be surprised, when people start making jokes or getting angry at how similar it is to the whole Star Wars Force-thing, because that is essentially the same (but without the asian culture references to it), because that, too, comes from the same source.

I am however surprised at how many people actually see a similarity between Pandaren and the KFP-Pandaboy, because in my mind the "hehehe, Pandaren!" vanished at once when the movie started, because they have so little in common.

My 2 cents

[Deleted]

Kung Fu Panda = Awesome
Original Pandaren Brewmaster = Awesome
World of Warcraft = Awesome

Put them all together and you get nothing less than Über Awesomeness Sausages!

Why do people even get bothered by it? WoW has always been comical, the fact that they may take some inspiration from a very successful comedy doesn't seem at all concerning tbh. Deal with it or just don't play them.

[falloutboi]

What's the point of cross refrenceing this to the Kung Fu Panda film?

Blizzard have alway's got idea's from film and incorprorated them into the game, and it has worked and provided an enjoyable playing expiriance.

I'm set and fired up and looking forward to the beta. I think this could possibly be the best expansion since Bruning Crusade.

Obviously just my opinion.

[Belial]

Even if Blizzard created the fighting panda first, it is a horrible idea to bring them into the game now that Kung Fu Panda became so famous. People will always associate the two.

Exactly this. Kung-Fu panda was a very succesfull movie and it is still very fresh in peoples minds. No wonder people associate Pandarens with Po from Kung-Fu panda. That said, I know that Pandarens have been around much longer than the Kung-Fu panda movies and that they have absolutely nothing to do with eachother. But alot of people will still associate them with Po. As another one in this thread wrote: If they were going to do this, they should have done it back in TBC. That would properly still have caused an upraw, but at least it wouldn't have been associated with Kung-Fu Panda.