The Legend of Lucky Pie
The Legend of Lucky Pie () 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. 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" Chinese animated television series. While the short was produced with neither funding nor in a studio environment, the group hoped to produce more episodes. The short was released in early January 2015 (either in the first or second week; on YouTube it is on January 2) on several Chinese video sites, such as Sina Weibo, Baidu and Tudou. From the third episode of the series, the show was fully funded through Patreon. In 2018 the team stated episode 5 is the  final episode and are planning to continue the series in comic form with some art for it being released. Since 2018 there was no activity on the team's Patreon or Twitter page. Episode 3 and 4 had an English dub made with episode 5 being planned to receive an English dub but it wasn't ever completed or released. Reception. On Western-based sites, writers for news sites referred to it as a "knock-off" and a "rip-off" of the American animated television series "Adventure Time". 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. Steve Wolfhard, a storyboard artist on "Adventure Time", expressed his approval of the short on his Twitter account, calling it "the cutest". Salvador Belizón of "Alfa Beta Juega" wrote that the release of more episodes would make it successful. Ben Furse of "Moviepilot" called the animation "nice" and that, overall, it was a "cheerful little  cartoon". Meanwhile, in "Disorder Magazine", Cha Giadach called the animation "shit", but admired the dedication of the producers. A "LifeBoxset" writer said that the animation had "enough merit". 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". 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". A writer for "Publimetro" wrote that, like "Adventure Time , it elicited the same response of what did you just see?". A writer for "SDP Noticas" wrote that, despite the similarities and the lack of budget, the producers gave "life" to it. Andrew Whalen of "iDigitalTimes" called it "adorable".