The Legend of Lucky Pie

The Legend of Lucky Pie (Chinese: 幸运派传说; pinyin: xìngyùn pài chuánshuō) is a Chinese animated web series. Produced by a group of artists without funding or a studio environment, the first episode was released as a short film in early January 2015. Writers for news sites observed striking similarities to the American animated television series Adventure Time, calling it a "rip-off", while some praised the animation and dedication of the producers. The plot revolves around a pony named Lucky and an anthropomorphic owl called Ah-Pie going on adventures.

The Legend of Lucky Pie
Opening Title Card at the beginning of every episode.
Country of originChina
Original language(s)Chinese
Production
Running time12 minutes (1-3, 5), 22 minutes (4)
Release
Original releaseJanuary 2, 2015 (2015-01-02)

Production and release

Lucky Pie was produced by a group of Chinese artists who, according to Wendy Zhao of Cartoon Brew, were "enthusiastic animation friends" working against "tacky" and "trite"[1] Chinese animated television series. While the short was produced with neither funding nor in a studio environment, the group hoped to produce more episodes.[1] The short was released in early January 2015 (either in the first[1] or second week;[lower-alpha 1] on YouTube it is on January 2) on several Chinese video sites, such as Sina Weibo, Baidu and Tudou.[2] From the third episode of the series, the show was fully funded through Patreon. Recently the group working on the series said that the recently released 5th episode might be the final episode of the web series.

Episodes
No.TitleOriginal release date
1"Who Makes That Voice?"
"什么声音"		January 2, 2015 (2015-01-02)
2"The Zodiac Maze"
"星座迷宫"		October 18, 2015 (2015-10-18)
3"If It's The Last Thing I Poo[3]"
May 26, 2016 (2016-05-26)
4"ALIENS"August 20, 2017 (2017-08-20)
5"Am I An Owl?"August 18, 2018 (2018-08-18)

Reception

On Western-based sites,[2] writers for news sites referred to it as a "knock-off"[1][4] and a "rip-off"[2][5] of the American animated television series Adventure Time.[6] Zhao wrote that the response from Chinese viewers towards these accusations were split. For Cartoon Brew, Amid Amidi wrote that, while it might be an "honest-to-goodness knock-off or an elaborately produced hoax", the producers had "certainly spent a fair amount of time studying Adventure Time", and expressed curiosity towards the identity of the creators.[1] Steve Wolfhard, a storyboard artist on Adventure Time, expressed his approval of the short on his Twitter account, calling it "the cutest".[2]

Salvador Belizón of Alfa Beta Juega wrote that the release of more episodes would make it successful.[7] Ben Furse of Moviepilot called the animation "nice" and that, overall, it was a "cheerful little cartoon".[5] Meanwhile, in Disorder Magazine, Cha Giadach called the animation "shit", but admired the dedication of the producers.[8] A LifeBoxset writer said that the animation had "enough merit".[9] For Nerdist, Brittany Vincent called it "definitely ... interesting and personable", hoping for a crossover between it and Adventure Time, should the former "pick up some steam".[4]

Chris Person of Kotaku called the short both "pretty damn cool" and "pretty solid", and although the animation was "a bit rough" compared to that of Adventure Time, considering the exhausting nature of animation, "they did alright".[10] A writer for Publimetro wrote that, like Adventure Time, it elicited the same response of "what did you just see?".[11] A writer for SDP Noticas wrote that, despite the similarities and the lack of budget, the producers gave "life" to it.[12] Andrew Whalen of iDigitalTimes called it "adorable".[2]

Explanatory notes
  1. Refer to the external links in Walden 2015.
gollark: "centimeter"?
gollark: It's just awful.
gollark: (with an e)
gollark: (I chcked)
gollark: Actually, RIGHT!

References
  1. Amidi, Amid (14 January 2015). "Is Legend of Lucky Pie the Chinese Knock-off of Adventure Time?". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on 16 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  2. Whalen, Andrew (15 January 2015). "Adventure Time Chinese Rip-off: What Does an Adorable Animation Short Have to Do with Gamergate?". iDigitalTimes. IBT Media. Archived from the original on 16 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  3. "The Legend of Lucky Pie Episode 3 "If It's The Last Thing I Do" (With English Subtitles)". Lucky Pie. 26 May 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  4. Vincent, Brittany (15 January 2015). "Surprise! This Chinese Knock-off of Adventure Time Is Quite Good, Actually". Nerdist. Nerdist Industries. Archived from the original on 16 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  5. Furse, Ben (15 January 2015). "New Chinese Adventure Time Rip-off Is Crazy Awesome!". Moviepilot. Archived from the original on 16 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  6. Reyes, Miguel (15 January 2015). "Esos chinos, ahora hasta copian Adventure Time y toda la cosa". Atomix (in Spanish). Gamers Media. Archived from the original on 16 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  7. Belizón, Salvador (16 January 2015). "Hora de Aventuras llega a China bajo la imitación The Legend of Lucky Pie". Alfa Beta Juega (in Spanish). Partners Entertainment S.L. Archived from the original on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  8. Giadach, Cha (16 January 2015). "Legend of Lucky Pie el Hora de Aventura hecho en China". Disorder Magazine (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  9. Anon. (16 January 2015). "En China tienen su propia versión de Adventure Time y es aún más rara que la original". LifeBoxset (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  10. Person, Chris (15 January 2015). "Chinese Show's Imitation of Adventure Time Is Actually Pretty OK". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on 16 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  11. Anon. (15 January 2015). "YouTube: Mira la versión asiática de Adventure Time". Publimetro (in Spanish). Metro International. Archived from the original on 16 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  12. Anon. (15 January 2015). "China tiene su propia versión de Adventure Time". SDP Noticas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 16 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.

Further reading
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