Talk:Danny Elfman/Archive 1

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This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Recent Edits

I made a few edits (not enough, maybe) and removed the trivia section, which didn't seem to contain anything important. Feel free to disagree, of course. There's still plenty here that could be pruned but honestly I'm a little too tired and timid to delete anything else. Maybe later...Matheson 13:34, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

Should this article be really cat'ed in Spider-Man and Batman?! - UnlimitedAccess 5 July 2005 06:48 (UTC)

Modifying the listing of Desperate Housewives to the "theme" for desperate housewives. Danny Elfman only composed the theme, Steve Jablonsky actually does the music in the show

Picture

I have screencapped a picture of Danny Elfman from the Sweet Sounds feature of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory DVD. It seems to be fair use. If you feel that it isn't or have problems with the picture at least leave a note here explaining why. This picture seems sufficient so hopefully there won't be any more picture shuffling ;) Thanks. --Rachel Cakes 09:26, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

I am sorry, but I think the picture needs to be changed. I know it is a recent photo, but quite frankly, it makes him look like a dweeb. I remember a photo that was on this article earlier that did Mr. Elfman justice and IMO better suited for this article.. This is a just a suggestion. -Atomic Duck!

Which photo would that be? Could you please link to it or describe it to me? --Rachel Cakes 10:55, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Someone needs to find a picture. This article is about someone too important to not have one. -- Bustoff 09:37, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Maybe we should use a picture of him with his group? Acetaminophen

Bodhi Elfman

I didn't know he was Jenna Elfman's uncle-in-law. Also, his nephew Bodhi is Scientologist I just read on the article. I really hope that Danny isn't. Danny seems like such a cool guy it would be a shame if he was. --Rachel Cakes 05:41, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

Jewish

Considering that his work isn't religious, is it appropriate that the first thing mentioned about him after his birth is that he is a Jewish American? 24.22.148.134 05:04, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

America seems obsessed with internal cultural subdivisions. There doesn't seem to be such a thing as a plain "American". Cain Mosni 19:02, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Well, when you're in a country that defines itself by it's multicultural setting every group becomes hyphenated. This is even more pronounced in Canada where, rather than a melting pot, everyone is seperate, so much so that even 'regular' Canadians become 'English-Canadians'. It's not an 'American' symptom but rather a multicultural one. --Thaddius 16:23, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

Being a Canadian (note the lack of a hyphen), I feel that this comment is inacccurate. In everyday usage, I almost never hear someone describe themself or others as "something or other-Canadian." The only time I ever seem to see this is when the context of someone's ethnic origins is actually a relevant matter. Most of the time, we're just plain Canadian, eh? -- Enigmatick 15:32, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

Birthplace

He was born in Los Angeles. See: http://www.bluntinstrument.org.uk/elfman/bio/index.html, imdb, etc. (this is a common mistake, see bottom of www.squidoo.com/dannyelfman. Nationalparks 05:56, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Layout of the Article

I think this article should have a different layout. It just seems so jumbled up. Allemannster 03:39, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

New Profession for Mr. Elfman

The rumors are he wants to direct movies now, that this is indeed his heart's passion, not music. Picture an American Fellini or Argento but with a killer soundtrack. Can't wait....

Simpsons theme...largest orchestra??

I heard once that the theme tune for the Simpsons employed the largest orchestra ever for a film/Tv score... is this true?--Macca7174 15:33, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Seems highly unlikely to me. I don't hear that many instruments, and I don't see why would they need that many. ☢ Ҡi∊ff⌇↯ 18:29, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Conducting=

In the trivia section it mentions that Danny conducted his scores for Batman and Batman Returns. As far as I know, this isn't true. According to Danny himself (Music For A Darkened Theater II liner notes) he only conducted one of his scores, which I believe was Dead Presidents (might have been something else). Anyone else got anything to the contrary? 71.141.142.179 03:41, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Elfman assuredly did NOT conduct the score for Batman - At the time, Elfman would not have had the musical knowledge to do such a thing to begin with and I'm pretty sure Scott Smalley was the conductor (and I just talked to him last weekend). Which brings us to a completely un-addressed issue on this article: Sean W. Malone 22:43, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

I believe the late, great Shirley Walker may have conducted it, as she was quite involved in that score (orchestrating and writing some additional music I believe. Perhaps it's time to check the disc's liner notes. 205.155.8.6 18:02, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

MUSICAL ISSUES

When Danny Elfman first got into film scoring there was a huge backlash by (for lack of a better word) "real" composers. This is because Elfman had no significant musical training and knew almost nothing about harmony or orchestration (which are incredibly important to the compositional process). As a result, on the Batman score for example, orchestrator Steven Scott Smalley made all of those decisions effectively composing about 75% of the actual music (if you consider some of the basic elements of music such as; melody, harmony, rhythm, form, dynamics, articulations - Scott Smalley is responsible for almost all but melody and form...) If you've seen the composer's sketches (which film composers give to orchestrators in order to write the ridiculously large amount of music in the short amount of time they have) given to Smalley by Elfman (which I have seen/have copies of) you will find that they contain only melodic information.

I'm rather disappointed this wiki doesn't address that at all but then as an educated film composer in the world of GarageBand, I can't say I'm particularly surprised. Sean W. Malone 22:43, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm pretty Shirley Walker conducted the score to Batman, as for the orchestrators Smalley was one of them, there were several orchestrators of Batman. ~\_|JaySherman|_/~ 05:46, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

DO you have any SOURCES beyond your personal opinion. This is a quite common accusation leveled at Elfman, but it always lacks the most basic proof. Where are these sketches? How could he have been musical director for a rock band for 10 plus years without having a basic grasp of harmony? Just because he didn't go to a conservatory to learn about composition does not mean he knows nothing about the process. 205.155.8.6 18:05, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Rock On!!!!!!!

You totally rock and succed in al you do!!!!!!!!!!!!! good luck with the rest!!!!!!!!!!!—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.83.129.140 (talk) .

Corrections

Can someone confirm that the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo name was shortened in 1978? Because Forbidden Zone was made in 1980 and the band is credited in that film as "The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo."

Also it would be good to link to his brother Richards Wikipedia entry in the first paragraph where he is mentioned as "his big brother."

The whole period between 1978 and 1980 seems transitional. I don't think there were any more Mystic Knights shows after 1978 and when they "shortened down" Richard Elfman decided to start the film. Forbidden Zone was released in 1980. --Stacey Doljack Borsody 18:04, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Reference for whitest white kid

The only thing I found was this: http://elfman.filmmusic.com/elfman_la_times.html Unless it can be corroborated, shouldn't it be REMOVED, since he's still living?

Danny Elfman open letter

Back in the late 80's Elfman was recieving a lot of criticism for not being a proffessionaly trained musician, some of those crticis were very harsh, and Danny apparently got enough and made an open letter, i found a copy of that letter here.~\_|JaySherman|_/~ 03:52, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

Danny's Religion

There has been a slight dispute over what religion Danny is. It has been claimed that he was born Jewish, but is now a congregational Christian. Has anyone been able to find a reliable source that clearly states his religion? --Releeshan 21:17, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

Or maybe he's Scientologist? I find it funny that folks care so much about this topic. --Stacey Doljack Borsody 21:23, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

That's his brother and nephew. Danny's not a Scientologist.

Yea, no shit. --Stacey Doljack Borsody 05:12, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

I don't care about it all that much, but I would like to put the issue to rest. --Releeshan 21:26, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

Well, according to his myspace he's an atheist. If it's official (and it looks official) we can add him there. I'm beginning to think everyone who I admire is either atheist! http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=91904458 216.75.190.114 (talk) 04:24, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

Selected Filmography

Guys, this isn't imdb. Could we trim down the Selected filmography to a list of the most notable scores? --Stacey Doljack Borsody 23:37, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

The current consensus is, (don't know where I saw that anymore) that complete is preferred. If it gets too big, a separate filmography article can get created. Garion96 (talk) 08:24, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Then Selected is the wrong word to use... --Stacey Doljack Borsody 15:42, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

HEY, SOMETHING'S WORNG! You say Elfman didn't have any experience composing film scores when he did Pee Wee, yet, the filmography has Forbidden Zone, Back to School and Wisdom before Pee Wee, and from the music for those movies I've heard, he was really good. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.76.103.98 (talk) 03:43, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Order of Sections

Wouldn't the sections would make much more sense in a different order? Musical Influences works best under Elfman and Burton, and the the Awards section before the Trivia. This would give the article more clarity. Groove1279 20:20, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Reorganized several sections. Is that good? --Releeshan 22:36, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Couldn't find a source for this

I found this line in the secion on his relationship with Tim Burton: Ed Wood, which was produced during the Nightmare Before Christmas-based rift between Elfman and Burton... I knew that this rift had taken place, but I had no idea what had caused this rift. My problem is that I cannot find a source for this statement, and it gives no information on what it was about Nightmare Before Christmas that caused the rift. Can anyone educate me? Larrythefunkyferret 17:06, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Rumors have been circulating for years about the rift, which did come about during/after Nightmare and Batman Returns production, but as far as I know noone but them really knows the whole story. I don't have a source handy, but Elfman has stated in a few interviews that it was not a work-related thing, but "a family thing". Matheson 20:04, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Spiderman 3

Removed Spider-man 3 from list of movies. Christopher Young composed the score, using some of Elfman's themes from the first two movies and writing some new ones. Elfman himself had no involvement with the movie. (feel free to wade through the discussion at http://elfman.filmmusic.com/forum/read.php?7,20011 if you want more info.) Matheson 02:44, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

Meet the Robinsons

Regarding the relationship between Elfman's hearing damage and the All-American Rejects song from Meet the Robinsons: they have nothing to do with each other. Elfman's contribution to and involvement with the song in question was as a composer - AAR wrote and recorded it based on music in Elfman's original score. Elfman didn't sing on the track, he didn't play guitar on it, he didn't have to stand in front of a wall of amplifiers and thousands of screaming fans. As far as I know, he didn't have anything to do with the recording at all. Matheson 05:47, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

Citations

I added some citations where they were requested. The only places I know of where Elfman discusses the thrill of hearing the Breakfast Machine cue for the first time are the Pee-Wee DVD commentary and the liner notes of Music for a Darkened Theater, Volume 1. Does anyone know how to cite such sources? Matheson 02:48, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Rift Again

Seconding the above post, I think the "rift" reference must be explained or yanked -- at the least, it's bad form to write "the rift" as if everyone knows what this is, and then offer no explanation whatsoever.

GeneCallahan 06:15, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

"For his agent"?

"Elfman also was in Finding Kraftland for his agent Richard Kraft."

This sentence may make sense to someone who is familiar with what is being talked about. But I can only guess what it might mean -- perhaps "at the request of his agent"? "as a favor to his agent"? "in the role of his agent"? Who knows? It could mean dozens of things.