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One of Danny Elfman’s relatives used to work as a temp for me last Spring. Donald Elfman, Danny’s second cousin, is also a musican and has worked for many Record companies (like Telarc and Electra/Nonsuch), but oddly enough, has never met Danny. He did mentioned that he had met Richard Elfman on many occasions. Donald did mention to me that his favorite score was Ennio Morricone’s “Once Upon A Time In America”, but that he was more of a Jazz man. Don’t know what’s that is worth but he was a cool, and laid-back guy.
I had been a big John Williams fan and even had 8-tracks of his scores to Jaws, Superman, and Star Wars. I mostly listened to classical music, but did have a few other Albums, two of which were Oingo Boingo’s “Nothing to Fear” and “Good for your Soul”. I didn’t really make the connection when I saw Pee-Wee or Beetlejuice, but I did when Batman came out (I believe I saw a behind the scenes that mentioned that he was the same guy in Oingo Boingo). I bought Music for a Darkened Theater when it came out and then searched for everything he had produced up until then (both Oingo Boingo and scores).
Before I graduated High School, I had to chance to conduct a Symphony Band composition I had written that was Danny Elfman inspired called “Incalzondo Mysterioso” and I haven’t looked back since.
I concur Ryan, the score didn’t sound like an Elfman score at all. It was however, scored almost like an independent film, and was very subtle for the most part. I think that added to the eerie feeling of the movie, which kind of reminded me of a video game at times – it was atmospheric without being devoid of musicality. The times when music was allowed to fully take over, like the They Might Be Giants song, did stand out, but that’s only because what it depicted was supposed to be seen as hyper-reality in the “other” world. I think the creators of this film were very courageous to allow the images and story to play-out with a subtle score that’s not hitting you over the head. I enjoyed Coraline a lot and look forward to seeing it again when it comes out on DVD. Is it better than Nightmare Before Christmas… No, but, for me, the story was more compelling, and the artistry was a bit higher than previous stop-motion efforts.
Stay until the end credits and they show a scene animated with the armatures exposed that was really thrilling to see in 3D!
Didn’t Chicago receive a BAFTA (the British equivalent of the Oscar) nomination that included Danny Elfman in the nomination? I know the BAFTA has different qualifications than the Oscar so a lot of this nomination was because of the songs, but still Danny got mentioned in the nomination if I remember correctly.
Didn’t he do some logo stuff for the Starz movie network, I know it might not count as a movie logo theme, but I remember there being a rumor that he was going to write one…
… anyone know if this is true?
1999 – 2003 contained good scores as the winners, the BEST? – Maybe to some (each of those scores had their merits at least). Favorite from that period for me was probably The Red Violin in 1999.
Because of the film I believe Milk would have a better chance at being nominated this year. I would be nice to see Wanted nominated, but ultimately I think Milk would even have a better chance at winning the way the Oscar Members vote… especially if the members want to give Milk some love.
Erik Satie (Forbidden Zone) & George Gershwin (Dick Tracy) come to mind from the liner notes on the first Music For A Darkened Theater. Also He has mentioned Dimitri Shostakovitch and Philip Glass before.
Very few Documentaries get nominated for their score, and this movie opened way to early to get anything BUT a documentary nomination, but MILK on the other hand could snag him a nomination, IF the movie IS any good (I say this is very likely to happen IMO).
I wouldn’t mind paying for the whole thing – Since Danny wrote the songs, won’t he get a part of the profit?
This reminds me of when Sean Young went onto the Arseneo Hall show dressed as Cat Woman in a attempt to get the part in Batman Returns.
At least they didn’t go the Disney Radio route and have Hanna Montana and the Jonus Brothers doing covers!
I would actually like to see him score more “smaller” films – kind of like his works for “To Die For” and “A Simple Plan”. It would allow him to fully develop a lot of the more intimate sounds found in “S.O.P.” or bits in “Wanted”. Or maybe a score that allows him to use just the “band” sound like in “Midnight Run” – maybe some kind of heist film… I could really go for that!
In all of the supplemental information on Finding Nemo, Andrew Stanton always says he was listening to Thomas Newman while he was writing the film. I doubt this “rumor” about Danny is true.
It actually sounded like the orchestration in a lot of his score to CIVIL ACTION to me. That chord progression and instrumentation is also similar to Saint-Sean’s “Aquarium” in CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS, which I heard in earlier cues from the HELLBOY II score as well.
Great score that I love listening to (and that goes for his other two scores this year), actually I still listen to all of Danny’s score regularly going back to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (except for Meet the Robinson – just to disjointed for me). This has been a wonderful string of film scores (and concert work) for Danny!
If anyone is interested in Daniel Schweiger’s acting chops, check out Bubba-Hotep or Free Enterprise (good films). Even when I ready his print reviews of scores I can hear his voice in my head!
My point is as long as you know “how” to write, or in the case of the harp, how NOT to write then all is good…
He knows how the harp works… he even mentioned pedals, most people probably don’t know that a harp HAS pedals.
That’s my point… but it’s not worth that much I see…
…I’m sorry for even bringing it up.
I had a friend who worked at Remote Control (Media Ventures), and he only had glowing things to say about Zimmer and how he mentors young composers… his style may not be your cup of tea, but he’s very generous about giving composers a chance to rise to the top ala John Powell who’s gone on to a top notch career in the business. There is something to be said about that!
Buy the way my friend worked under Klaus Badelt during Catwoman and spent his time creating samples for him as well as moving his stuff after his divorce… ah to be an intern.
I seem to remember Hans inviting Danny over during the scoring of the first Nolan Batman movie, since their studios aren’t that far apart….?
