Music Is My Weapon

One of my favorite movies of all time is Nightmare Before Christmas. The musical score is done by one of the best of the bussines, he has work on many of Tim Burton films in his lifetime, he has one oscars for his role of the compser of those films. I wanted to share some info of him that i have found on the internet, I hope you all enjoy.

Daniel Robert Elfman was born on the 29th of May, 1953 in the town of Amarillo, Texas. Living in a racially mixed community in the Baldwin Hillls of Los Angeles, Danny was known as 'the whitest white kid'. He spent much of his time in the local theatre, adoring the music of such idols as Bernard Hermann and Franz Waxman. Dropping out of high school he followed his brother to France, where he played his violin on the street and later teamed up with his big bro to perform with Le Gran Magic Circus, an avant-garde musical theatrical group.

After a while of life in France, Danny moved on to a new setting; Africa. He travelled through Ghana, Mali and Upper Volta, learning about many different styles of music and also how to play different instruments. One such musical style he learned of was called Highlife, which was a great influence to him for years to come. However, he caught the malaria virus during his one-year stay, and was often sick for long periods of time. Says Elfman, "pills make it less severe, but it is AWFUL. You feel like you're going to die, but you don't." Long periods of time would go by back home in America without a word from Danny, and then suddeny there'd be a message from him. Needless to say, Elfman returned home to the US, where his brother Rick was forming a new musical group called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. The group was to provide the music for his first feature-film, The Forbidden Zone. Danny agreed to compose the score for the film, and also did a wonderful job of acting Satan. The movie was a cult hit, as was Danny. The Mystic Knights went on to shorten the name to Oingo Boingo in 1978 went the group split apart, touring the country and releasing albums along the way.

It wasn't until the early 80's that Danny got his first big break. A young first time director named Tim Burton approached him regarding Danny's providing the score to his first film, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. A fan of Oingo Boingo, Tim believed that there was something special in Elfman for composing. And he was right. Elfman's score was a big success, and in later years have been played at Primus concerts, where people often mosh to the theme written so many years before. Said Danny, "I was more than shocked when I heard the "Pee Wee" theme playing before they came out. To see people moshing to that absurd bit of music brought tears to my eyes. Not exactly what I expected when I wrote it."

After Pee-Wee, people began to open up to Elfman. Today he has composed the scores for such movies as The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Batman, Mars Attracks, and many, many more. His televison credits includes The Simpsons, Batman, and even a Nike commercial. Danny Elfman has had a successful career thus far, but he's not done yet. He's hopefully going to be getting into directing pretty soon. He currently has three of his own scripts, two that are planned on being turned into films. These scripts include Little Demons, The World of Jimmy Calicut, and Julian. He continues to compose scores, and will hopefully be collaborating with Tim Burton on a few of new projects in the near future. Elfman also plans on creating an Edward Scissorhands ballet with a choreographer friend.


Filmography

* Composer Amazing Spider-Man, The (2004)
* Big Fish (2003)
* Hulk, The (2003)
* Barry Sonnenfeld's Intergalactic Guide to Comedy (2002) (V)
* Cosmic Symphonies: Elfman in Space (2002) (V)
* Creature Featurettes (2002) (V)
* Design in Motion: The Look of 'Men in Black II' (2002) (V)
* Men in Black Training Videos (2002) (V)
* MIB ADR (2002) (V)
* Rick Baker: Alien Maker (2002) (V)
* Squish, Splat, Sploosh: The Stellar Sounds of 'Men in Black II' (2002) (V)
* Chicago (2002) (second end title)
* Red Dragon (2002)
* Men in Black II (2002)
* Spider-Man (2002)
* Kingdom Hearts (2002) (VG) (song "This Is Halloween") (uncredited)
* Simpsons Road Rage, The (2001) (VG) ('Simpsons' theme song)
* Novocaine (2001) (main theme)
* Planet of the Apes (2001)
* Mazer World (2001)
* Heartbreakers (2001) (main theme)
* Spy Kids (2001) (main theme)
* Undone (2001) (uncredited)
* Family Man, The (2000)
* Proof of Life (2000)
* Sleepy Hollow (1999)
* Anywhere But Here (1999) (also songs)
* Instinct (1999)
* My Favorite Martian (1999) (main theme)
* "Dilbert" (1999) TV Series (theme song "The Dilbert Zone")
* Civil Action, A (1998)
* Modern Vampires (1998) (main theme)
* Simple Plan, A (1998)
* "Perversions of Science" (1997) TV Series (main theme)
* Simpsons: Virtual Springfield, The (1997) (VG) (theme)
* Scream 2 (1997) ("Cassandra" aria)
* Good Will Hunting (1997)
* Flubber (1997)
* Men in Black (1997)
* Farewell: Live from the Universal Amphitheatre Halloween 1995 (1996) (V) (from songs)
* Mars Attacks! (1996)
* Darkman III: Die Darkman Die (1996) (V) (musical themes)
* Extreme Measures (1996)
* Bordello of Blood (1996) (theme)
* Frighteners, The (1996)
* Mission: Impossible (1996)
* Freeway (1996)
* Dead Presidents (1995)
* To Die for (1995)
* Dolores Claiborne (1995)
* Demon Knight (1995) (main title theme)
* Darkman II: The Return of Durant (1994) (V) (musical themes)
* Shrunken Heads (1994) (main theme)
* Black Beauty (1994)
* "Weird Science" (1994) TV Series
* Nightmare Before Christmas, The (1993)
* "Family Dog" (1993) TV Series
* Army of Darkness (1993) (theme "March of the Dead")
* Sommersby (1993)
* Amazing Stories: Book Two (1992) (V) (segment "Family Dog")
* "Batman: The Animated Series" (1992) TV Series (from main theme of "Batman (1989)")
* Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) (song "We Close Our Eyes")
* Batman Returns (1992)
* Article 99 (1992)
* Pure Luck (1991) (main theme)
* Edward Scissorhands (1990)
* "Flash, The" (1990) TV Series (main theme)
* Flash, The (1990) (TV) (main theme)
* Darkman (1990)
* Dick Tracy (1990)
* Nightbreed (1990)
* Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) (song)
* "Beetlejuice" (1989) TV Series (main theme)
* Oingo Boingo: Skeletons In the Closet (1989) (V)
* "Simpsons, The" (1989) TV Series (main theme)
* Batman (1989)
* Ghostbusters II (1989) (song "Flesh 'n Blook")
* "Tales from the Crypt" (1989) TV Series (main theme)
* Scrooged (1988)
* Hot to Trot (1988)
* Midnight Run (1988)
* Big Top Pee-wee (1988)
* Beetlejuice (1988)
* Teen Wolf Too (1987) (song)
* Summer School (1987)
* "Pee-wee's Playhouse" (1986) TV Series
* Wisdom (1986)
* Something Wild (1986) (song "Not My Slave")
* "Sledge Hammer!" (1986) TV Series (main theme)
* Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, The (1986) (song "No One Lives Forever")
* Back to School (1986) (song "Dead Man's Party")
* "Fast Times" (1986) TV Series
* "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1985) TV Series (episode "Jar, The")
* "Amazing Stories" (1985) TV Series (episode "Family Dog (1987)") (episode "Mummy Daddy (1985)")
* Weird Science (1985) (title song)
* Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
* Beverly Hills Cop (1984) (song "Gratitude")
* Sixteen Candles (1984) (song "Wild Sex In The Working Class") (as Oingo Boingo)
* Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) (end title song "Goodbye, Goodbye")
* Forbidden Zone (1980)