h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What has not been mentioned is "The Nightmare Before Christmas". Elfman sings, wrote the music and had a hand in producing this wonderful little film. I'm no music critic, and I can't comment on the other conversations about plagiarism and talented underlings, but I can say that the music produced impresses me more than any number of Lloyd-Webbers, Williams and Mancinis. BTW, Mr Elfman has the same quirky quality in his singing voice. Wonderful

I wholeheartedly agree. Danny Elfman is a man of many talents, and since Boingo is defunct it was great to hear his singing voice again on 'Nightmare'.

Strangely enough, my favorite Elfman film score to date is that of "Good Will Hunting". It was a breakthrough for those who tried to pigeon-hole him into the "Beetlejuice sound" they only thought him capable of. He does a fabulous job of capturing the theme and feeling of a movie with his music and as such proven himself a very tensile and adaptable artist.

In this entry, though, I would have liked to have read a bit more about Elfman's musical history (and a bit less about the author's personal views about Elfman, however much I agree with them). I especially would have liked to have seen something about his start with his brother Richard's band "The Mystic Knights of Oingo Boingo" and how he formed that into the Oingo Boingo we know and love.

So I'll just pop off to write something about them then.

Hey, I LIKED the Beetlejuice soundtrack!

Wow, I didn't know there were other Elfman fans out there! I thought I was the only one who even knew who he was! And another movie you haven't mentioned is Mission: Impossible, which has some great "Beetlejuice-style" music, and some really beautiful, soulful slow themes. Two questions: is there a Tim Burton movie that Danny HASN'T done? And is he doing the music for the next Mission: Impossible film?

Hey wait...didn't it sound just like...no, wait... Lemme go find that song.

Amanda, please do go and write a supplement to this article - there is so much more to be told.

I will. And was, actually, when my browser decided to crash in mid-article.

Wow! Look at em all! So many Elfman fans. I am truly sorry I forgot to mention Nightmare Before Christmas. It's definately one of my favorite Elfman scores, and probably my overall favorite musical of all time. To be honest, when I wrote the article, I had just stayed up for 32 hours straight with lots of Elfman playing. I was in a good mood, if a somewhat bleary one. My article sort of turned into a tribute. Plus, at the time, I had not yet gotten "into" Boingo. Now I'm far more informed on all aspects of Elfman's talent and career, and I wish I had waited a while.

Also, there are definately non-Elfman Burton films. They "split up" for a little while, actually. But they're definately back... Ed Wood comes to mind as an example of Burton plus Depp minus Elfman.

I hope others will expand.

Editorial Note: This conversation has been moved from 'Danny Elfman - Musician' to 'Danny Elfman - Film Composer'.