Tim Burton is a praised director, most known for his films “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, “Corpse Bride”, both of the Beetlejuice movies, and “Edward Scissorhands”. The creator and composer of Burton’s weird and spooky soundtracks has been making scores for all of Burton’s films since the 80s. This composer is Danny Elfman and he is responsible for the Tim Burton music scores.
Elfman’s name may ring a bell, most likely from reading his name in a movie’s credits or from hearing his name in an episode of “Family Guy”. In 1980, Elfman composed his first movie “The Forbidden Zone”, written and directed by his brother, Richard Elfman. Paul Reubens had seen the film and found a liking to the movie’s soundtrack, so he was happy to know five years later that Elfman had mailed a cassette tape to him and Tim Burton when Reubens got the role of Pee-wee Herman in “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.” This composition was Elfman’s first work with Burton and was the formation of Elfman’s 39-year-old career in the film industry.
Believe it or not, anyone who has seen “The Nightmare Before Christmas” has heard Danny Elfman’s singing. It may be noticeable that Jack Skellington’s voice sounds different in certain scenes. That is because Elfman is Jack Skellington’s singing voice. Elfman also plays a part in the first song of the movie “This is Halloween” as the Clown with the Tear Away Face. His voice has been featured not only in “The Nightmare Before Christmas” but also in Corpse Bride. When Victor enters the underworld, a skeleton named Bonejangles breaks into song and dance. Bonejangles’ voice actor happens to be Elfman himself.
Danny Elfman does not just make music for Tim Burton, he also has made theme songs and features in different pieces of media. Season 6, Episode 1 of “Family Guy” is an episode mimicking the Star Wars movie using the show’s characters. During the episode, there is a scene where the composer of Star Wars, John Williams, dies. Chris Griffin, dressed as Luke Skywalker says “Great, now we have to do the rest of this thing with Danny Elfman.” where the camera pans to Elfman conducting an orchestra before the main character uses his lightsaber on him. Besides “Family Guy,” Elfman has also been included in other television series. Elfman has made the theme songs for “The Simpsons,” “Desperate Housewives,” and “Wednesday,” Elfman has most likely done other shows, but these are the most popular.
Throughout Elfman’s career, he has been doing concerts for years. Ever since the late 70s he has been doing music on stage. Before composing films, Elfman was the lead singer of a band titled Oingo Boingo. (Formally named The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo.) Oingo Boingo is a New Wave band with up to ten albums. The band was created in 1980 and broke up in 1995, but some members still perform Oingo Boingo songs live with a different singer. What is Danny Elfman doing now? As of 2024, Elfman still does concerts. Every Halloween weekend, Elfman performs at the Hollywood Bowl with an orchestra, 3 guitar players (Including Elfman), a bass player, and someone on drums. During most of these concerts, Elfman would play a few of his movie scores, music from Oingo Boingo, and his 2021 album Big Mess.
Elfman has been a music enthusiast since he was a child, finding interest in musicians such as Bernard Herrmann and Erich Wolfgang. Many individuals mainly know Elfman from his work on Oingo Boingo, but he is not much of a household name. Although people are not familiar with the name, Elfman’s musical compositions have been loved by many.
