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there is only one Boingo song – “Home Again” – which is used over the end credits.
During the end credits, they list a bunch of songs from Danny Elfman’s so-called “solo” record. I guess the original soundtrack had a few songs included.
I wonder if the exclusive use of synthes is an artistic choice, or an economic necessity…
I think it’s a little of both. It’s a major studio film (Warner Bros) starring a big star (Emilio Estevez). But it was also released during the death-month of January and was helmed by Estevez who was a first-time director and also VERY young at the time (he was 24). So, they probably kept things very conservative. But with that being said, Elfman was doing alot of synth work at the time (Sledgehammer, Face Like a Frog, The Jar), so I’m sure he was okay with it. Plus, the film does feature some Oingo Boing songs, so Elfman most likely considered the project a combo of his two worlds — like on Midnight Run.
Elfman was really disappointed concerning the sound effects mixing, and the fact that a lot of the beautiful details of his score couldn’t be heard properly in the final mix.
That sounds a little far-fetched considering that the music dominates the sound effects in that movie. Plus, even IF he was disappointed with the mix, it seems a little odd for Elfman to blow up on Burton like that, considering that he had far worse experiences in Hollywood by then. His work on “Scrooged” and “Dick Tracy” were butchered on the final mix, for example. And he didn’t blow up on neither Richard Donner or Warren Beatty. Heck, Elfman even scored the theme to “Tales from the Crypt” which was produced by Donner. So, it seems WAY out-of-character for him to do that to Burton.
Elfman had fun WORKING on the music for Nightmare Before Christmas. It was afterwards when he didn’t receive proper credit that he got upset. Elfman felt he should have gotten a “story by” and a higher producer credit on the film. Instead, he had to settle for Associate Producer.
It’s definitely giving new life to the score. On other message boards, I’ve seen many people ask where the music is from.
It took Universal a long time to find a good spot for Wanted. That film had like 2 or 3 different release dates. So, the film may have been released in June, but was completed WAY before that. It was the same situation with The Wolfman. Except the Wolfman was more extreme.
Trust me. I really, really, want Elfman to score MIB 3, but its release date is literally two weeks after Dark Shadows. The only way Elfman can pull this off is if he’s already begun writing the MIB 3 score which I highly doubt because that film has shut down production several times due to creative differences between Will Smith and the director. They’re STILL shooting the film. And don’t expect Sony to move MIB 3 to another date. Summer 2012 is already jam-packed.
Batman Forever is still in-print? I haven’t seen that album IN YEARS. Maybe over a decade. Batman (1989) and the Hans Zimmer/James Netwon Howard albums are the only ones I see widely available.
Dark Shadow has already begun production. It will get a summer release for several reasons.
1) Burton and Depp’s last film grossed $1 billion worldwide.
2) We’re in a vampire craze, so the genre doesn’t have to be limited to Halloween.
3) It’ll serve as counter-programming. Fast Five and Bridesmaids are doing well opposite Thor. So, I assume Dark Shadows will be fine the week after The Avengers.Spider-Man didn’t need a fanfare, it would have been a huge mistake. You have to distinguish “SPIDER-MAN the Stan Lee kick ass superhero that finally comes to the big screen” and “PETER PARKER, the kid who is discovering himself new powers that are a metaphor to adulthood as it is depicted in this particular film called SPIDER-MAN”. I’ll let you imagine which approach Elfman went for…
I love the theme that Elfman wrote for Peter Parker. It fits the character perfectly. But the Spider-Man theme was pretty bad. You want a FANFARE when Spider-Man is saving MJ and a group of kids from the Green Goblin. You want a FANFARE when Spider-Man swings into a burning building and saves a baby. You want a FANFARE when Spider-Man rescues Aunt May after she was dropped to her death by Doc Ock.
I can guarantee you that if Danny Elfman had given Spider-Man an iconic theme, like he did with Tim Burton’s Batman, Sam Raimi would have sat back and allowed Elfman to do whatever he wanted. He wouldn’t have questioned a thing.
I mean, look, I understand what Elfman was going through. He had already scored a few superhero movies and TV shows. So, he wanted to do something different. I respect that. But he also needed to understand that he was hired for a specific reason. Sometimes you gotta compromise. Look at Ennio Morricone. He was hired to compose dozens and dozens of westerns in the `60s. He made those assignments interesting for himself, but also stayed in the realm of what he was being asked.
Superhero themes are most effective when they’re simple and to the point. Having an identifiable motif that can quickly be played when the hero pops up is the way to go. That’s why John Williams’ Superman theme works so well. Clark Kent rips his shirt open to reveal the Superman suit, Williams plays the theme, and moves on to the next cue. It worked with Danny on Batman. The Dark Knight crashes through a window to save Vicki Vale, cue the Batman march, and proceed to the car chase.
In Spider-Man, the theme is too overly complicated and has too many elements that aren’t needed. We don’t need a choir and strings and exotic instruments. Just a simple brass section with drums and that’s it.
Spider-Man needed a march. An anthem. Not “heavenly music.” Save that stuff for the emotional scenes. For the action. For the heroic scenes. Keep it simple.
Danny Elfman’s Spider-Man theme wasn’t all that great. The score themselves were pretty good, but the actual THEME was under-whelming. After giving us an iconic Batman theme he disappointed with Spider-Man. Ultimately, I think this is why Sam Raimi was so harsh on Danny. He expected something better.
I think anyone can easily top Danny’s Spider-Man theme. Michael Giacchino. John Ottman. Alexander Desplat. James Newton Howard. Howard Shore. Any of them can do it with their eyes close. Even Hans Zimmer and his team of 50 additional composers.
I can see Danny writing a good score for this film. There’s a little kid. A robot. An underdog story. Some action. This will be an emotional score.
Goldsmith’s music works well in that kind of setting in ways that I don’t think much of Elfman’s music would
It depends on the score. The more straight-forward ones will work just fine. Batman, Sommersby, and Black Beauty will sound great with a live orchestra. Beetlejuice, with a few adjustments, will work as well. The Simpsons too. As I said, it depends. Jerry Goldsmith composed plenty of live orchestra friendly music, but I doubt Gremlins was one of them. Or even Planet of the Apes.
