Bibliography: (taken from numerous
sources and expanded)
Daniel Richard Elfman was born on May 29th, 1953 in Amarillo, Texas. His
parents were
Blossom and Milton Elfman. His father was a teacher. Blossom, his mother,
was a novelist. She won an Emmy for her writing in a TV movie.
Elfman spent his childhood in Los Angeles. When he turned 18, he moved
with his brother, Richard, to France. There, he joined a theater group
and became acquainted with the many different instruments of the
orchestra. After spending a few years in France, he moved to Africa. He
moved back to the U.S. after contracting malaria. He still considers his
time in Africa a great benefit to himself.
In 1980, Elfman worked with his brother, director Richard Elfman, on the
film Forbidden Zone. He formed a group known as "The Mystic
Knights of Oingo Boingo." They performed the score that Elfman wrote for
Forbidden Zone. Oingo Boingo, as it became known, blossomed into a
permanent group and drew a large cult following (in 1995, however, they
broke up).
In 1985 Elfman met Tim Burton, who asked Elfman to score the music for
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. This was Tim's first time directing and Elfman's
first time composing for a big-budget film. Elfman called in his friend
and fellow Oingo Boingo member, Steve Bartek, to orchestrate for him and
Pee-Wee was a success. Thus began the friendship between Elfman and
Burton. Elfman first became known by soundtrack fans in general with his
funky, light-hearted score for Beetlejuice. Combined with Harry
Belafonte's songs, the album was an enormous cult success.
Today, they are still working together as a team. Elfman has scored the
music for every single movie that Tim has directed, with the exception of
Ed Wood. He won his only Grammy in 1989 for his theme to
Batman. Elfman considers Batman to be one of his best
scores, and believes that it should receive far more recognition. He has
never been nominated for an academy award. Elfman, along with his fans,
believe that the Academy doesn't like him because of the fact that he is
completely self-taught. He keeps his distance from the rest of the
composer community, which he considers "elitist."
Perhaps his most emotional score to date, Edward Scissorhands
(1990) has become widely recognized as a truly unique score. The track
"The Grand Finale" is considered one of the best single tracks of the
1990's. In 1993, Elfman wrote another singularly slow, romantic, and dark
score: Sommersby. Arguably his best work, this score was a sleeper
hit and is yet unknown to many soundtrack fans.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) was a project where Elfman
wrote the songs, composed the score, and sang the leading role as Jack
Skellington in the movie. Besides Tim Burton, Elfman has worked with many
other directors such as Brian DePalma, Emilo Estevez, Warren Beatty (who
Elfman says is "insane" to work with), and the Hughes brothers. In 1996,
he composed the score to Freeway which was directed by one of his
high school friends. In return for his services, Elfman asked to be paid
only a dollar.
Danny Elfman is one of the few artists that have established themselves
as both a composer and a rocker. He has drawn a large following of fans
who find his works to be fresh and innovative. Although he is looked down
upon by many of his colleaques, he still continues to be one of the most
popular and sought-after film composers in the film industry.
Elfman composed an incredible amount of material in 1996. Extreme
Measures, The Frighteners, and Mission: Impossible were
followed by perhaps the strangest Burton/Elfman collaboration, Mars
Attacks!. In 1997, he scores another alien thriller, Men in
Black. Elfman is also slated to score the Burton production of
Superman.