An iPhone application called Plants vs. Zombies was forced to change one of its characters recently, after being threatened by the late King of Pop's estate.


Launched in 2009, the app featured a "Dancing Zombie" bearing a striking, albeit animated, resemblance to Michael Jackson's legendary undead character from the music video for 'Thriller,' replete with red leather jacket and curls.

A representative from PopCap Games has confirmed that lawyers representing the Jackson estate contacted them "objecting" to the character's resemblance.

"The Estate of Michael Jackson objected to our use of the 'dancing zombie' in PLANTS vs. ZOMBIES based on its view that the zombie too closely resembled Michael Jackson," a PopCap Games representative said in a released statement. "After receiving this objection, PopCap made a business decision to retire the original 'dancing zombie' and replace it with a different 'dancing zombie' character for future builds of PLANTS vs. ZOMBIES on all platforms. The phase-out and replacement process is underway."

The "Dancing Zombie" now rocks a disco-themed look, hopefully lawyers for Simpsons character Disco Stu won't disprove ("Disco Stu doesn't advertise").

Check out the Plants vs. Zombies app here.

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