Music Up

*Music Up*
Music Up
Created by	Jie Yan Yan; Ceng Wei; Lu Yingzhe;
Screenplay by	Xiang Hua; Jie Yan Yan; Ceng Wei;
Directed by	Hu Yihong
Voices of	Zhang Cheng; Ye Qishan; Li Ye; Shen Lei; Feng Junhua; Sun Ye; Tao Hai; Zhang Hui; Xu Huayan; Shen Dawei; Li Wei; Wu Xiaoyan;
Theme music composer	Peng Cheng
Opening theme	"My Stage" by Tiger Hu and the Inspirational Band
Composer	Peng Cheng
Country of origin	China
Original language	Mandarin
No. of episodes	52
Production
Editor	Qiang Xiaobai
Running time	22 mins
Production companies	Shanghai Animation Film Studio; Shanghai Television; Welkin-Animation;
Original release
Network	Shanghai Television; CCTV;
Release	August 6 –; August 31, 2001 (first 26 episodes); 2002 (last 26 episodes)

Music Up (Chinese: 我为歌狂), also known as Crazy for the Song, is the first Chinese animated (alternatively known as a Donghua) idol series in China. It was distributed by Shanghai Animation Film Studio and produced by Welkin-Animation.

A sequel, Music Up: Reborn (我为歌狂第二季) is released in early October 2020.

Background

This is the first animation production from China with an emphasis on the life of singers, bands and pop stars. It is the first high budget domestic Chinese animation. Production investment is estimated to be 18 million RMB (about US $2.3 million).^[1] In 2001 66% of its profits came from selling merchandise related to the series.^[2]

Story

Four young teenage boys share a common vision and passion for music. They come together overlapping their own personalities and ideas. In the process, they encounter a lot of difficulties as any youth might have. The story is unfolded as the band grows up. Academic, personal conflicts, family, friendship and emotional problems are all intertwined. With the help of teachers, students, and friends they try to achieve their dreams.

Merchandise

The TV series was not as successful as expected, but the associated merchandise of books, cards, CDs were extremely popular among teenagers in China. The book series sold 350,000 copies in Shanghai alone. A video game was released in 2002 by UbiSoft China titled "Music Up - Summer Rainbow".^[3]

References

^ Eastday. "Eastday in English^{[permanent dead link‍]}." "Hit Cartoon to make profit." Retrieved on 2007-01-09.
^ China Today. "China Today Archived 2006-02-10 at the Wayback Machine." "Chinese Animation Market: Monkey King vs Mickey Mouse." Retrieved on 2007-01-09.
^ Gamasutra. "Gamasutra." "Postmortem: Ubi Soft China’s Music Up -- Summer Rainbow." Retrieved on 2007-01-09.
^ Shang, Xiaolan (2001-08-08). "《我为歌狂》"盗"《灌篮高手》". Beijing Youth Daily. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
^ "虽然《我为歌狂》要拍第二部了，但其实他们的故事早已有结局". Gamecores. 2017-11-19. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
^ Li, A-Bao (2019-05-12). "想当年｜《我为歌狂》的新潮，新新一代还能领会吗？". The Paper. Retrieved 2019-09-18.

External links

[1] Eastday. "Eastday in English^{[permanent dead link‍]}." "Hit Cartoon to make profit." Retrieved on 2007-01-09.

[2] China Today. "China Today Archived 2006-02-10 at the Wayback Machine." "Chinese Animation Market: Monkey King vs Mickey Mouse." Retrieved on 2007-01-09.

[3] Gamasutra. "Gamasutra." "Postmortem: Ubi Soft China’s Music Up -- Summer Rainbow." Retrieved on 2007-01-09.

[4] Shang, Xiaolan (2001-08-08). "《我为歌狂》"盗"《灌篮高手》". Beijing Youth Daily. Retrieved 2019-09-18.

[5] "虽然《我为歌狂》要拍第二部了，但其实他们的故事早已有结局". Gamecores. 2017-11-19. Retrieved 2019-09-18.

[6] Li, A-Bao (2019-05-12). "想当年｜《我为歌狂》的新潮，新新一代还能领会吗？". The Paper. Retrieved 2019-09-18.

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