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Written by Ghost
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Sunday, 10 December 2006 |
Danny Elfman, the music and TV composer, would take the 80's with themes for television's Sledge Hammer and the Elfman classics Pee Wee's Playhouse and Tales from the Crypt. He scored the Bill Murray take on A Christmas Carol, with Scrooged. Of course, there are a few odd films like Hot to Trot starring Bobcat Goldthwait and a talking horse, but there are also a few lesser known Elfman gems, like the bluesy Midnight Run (starring Robert Deniro and Charles Grodin); and the distinctively synthetic Wisdom (starring Emilio Estevez and Demi Moore).
After Beetlejuce and Elfman's tour de force Batman, he had become one of the most sought after film composers for superheros and dark imaginative films. In 1990 Hellraiser director Clive Barker hired Elfman for Nightbreed. Warren Beatty hired Elfman for Dick Tracy. Danny had put Evil Dead director Sam Raimi on his list of people he would jump at the chance to work with if they ever called, and Raimi would call for Darkman. On top of this, Elfman scored another great comic book hero theme, this time for the TV series based on DC Comics' The Flash. And finally, one of his most beloved film scores would finish a year of incredible music, with Edward Scissorhands for Tim Burton. The score is Elfman's own favorite that he's composed, and one of his most imitated. The next year he spent a only couple of days writing one of the most famous TV themes, The Simpsons.
With Oingo Boingo disbanding in 1995 and Elfman pursuing film full time, now he would produce about two film scores each year. He was often the man to get for a great theme. Sam Raimi would enlist him for the main theme to Army of Darkness, and Richard Elfman would have him do the opening theme for Shrunken Heads.
After Batman Returns, Tim Burton and Danny Elfman worked on The Nightmare Before Christmas. Danny felt such an affinity for the Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington, that he wanted to sing his voice in the film. Though the film is remembered as one of Burton and Elfman's best projects, it seems to have been the breaking point for a little tension the two had brewing. Perhaps it began on Batman Returns, when Danny was frustrated that his detailed score for the film (many fans believe it's superior to his first Batman) was lost in the audio mix; and even though he protested no one seemed to respond. For the first time Burton would hire another composer, Howard Shore, for his next film, Ed Wood.
Tim Burton had a change of heart and reached out to Danny for Mars Attacks, and the two have never missed a film since. Oddly enough, Elfman has said before that he's always the last to know what they're doing next. More unexpected is the fact that in a 2005 interview for Elfman and Burton's eleventh film project, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Burton wouldn't say it had gotten to the point that they could expect to work together. Burton explained, "I mean, I enjoy working with him and he's my friend. Who knows, we may have a huge fight one day and who knows. (He laughs) I doubt it. I love working with him. He's like another character in the film, I always feel."
For 1997 Elfman recieved his first Oscar nomination. And his second. Both Good Will Hunting and Men in Black were nominated, although neither won. He would be nominated again for 2003's Big Fish .
In 2000 Danny worked with director Brett Ratner (X-Men 3) for the first time on The Family Man starring Nicolas Cage. They would work together again on the Hannibal Lecter film Red Dragon, where Danny made a connection with star Bridget Fonda, whom he had met before on Sam Raimi's A Simple Plan. Danny and Bridget were wed on a candle-lit night in 2003 at Los Angeles' First Congressional Church. For music there was a 20-member choir .
In 2002 Danny Elfman's Spider-Man score for Sam Raimi had a rather tepid reaction from fans, but somehow it manges to grow on listeners. Perhaps it was so different from what they expected that they couldn't appreciate it yet. On Spider-Man 2 fans sensed that something else was wrong. Other composers were filling in some work and there were rumors that it wasn't business as usual. In 2005 Danny revealed that he would never work with Sam Raimi again. He exlained that on Spider-Man 2 Raimi wanted him to imitate a cue from Hellraiser by Christopher Young, and that they were replacing some of his new work with temp tracks. Today rumors still surface that Danny is contributing to Spider-Man 3, but only time will tell.
In the meantime, Danny had a tremendous year with 2005's Corpse Bride and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, both for Tim Burton. His first symphonic work, Serenada Schizophrana -- commisioned by the American Composers Orchestra -- debuted at Carnegie Hall, and his son Oliver was born. He also won an Emmy for the theme to television's Desperate Housewives.
In 2006 his symphony, Serenada Schizophrana, made it to the mother of all big screens. It was adapted for Imax's Deep Sea 3-D. Finally, in October a studio recording was released by Sony. In 2006 he also contributed music for Nacho Libre, starring Jack Black. In late October The Nightmare Before Christmas was re-released, this time in 3-D. A new Special Edition of Elfman's soundtrack was accompanied by a bonus disc of some tribute cover songs by Marilyn Manson, Fiona Apple, and a few others. It also had a few Elfman demos. The only all-new soundtrack released under his name in 2006 is for December's live-action movie version of Charlotte's Web, bringing a satisfying conclusion to this year in Elfman music.
Always looking forward to Elfman's next work, fans can expect The Kingdom starring Jamie Foxx, and Disney's Meet the Robinsons in 2007. Of course we're hoping he'll squeeze in a few more projects. For years Danny has also been writing his own screenplays and wanting to direct a movie. We all wish Danny the very best and can't wait to see or hear what he does next.
Keep visiting DannyElfman.info for more updates, and we invite you to contribute your thoughts in our fan forum, where all Danny Elfman and Oingo Boingo fans are welcome.
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