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Danny Elfman
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Danny Elfman (born in 1953) was the singer and songwriter of the rock band Oingo Boingo and taught himself to orchestrate. The director Tim Burton asked him in 1985 for Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Beetlejuice (1988), Batman (1989) and Edward Scissorhands (1990) followed. Elfman writes music that is eerie and playful at once: fast waltzes, children's choirs, celesta and heavy minor-key marches. His Batman theme became a dark superhero march, which set the tone for later superhero films and for the animated series. He also wrote the opening theme of The Simpsons. With Spider-Man (2002) he returned to the superhero genre.
Listening
Listening tip. Listen for the combination of a heavy, dark march in the low register with a high, fairy-tale-like choir or celesta.
Main Titles · Danny Elfman, 1988
The Batman Theme · Danny Elfman, 1989
Main Title · Danny Elfman, 2002
Discography
Studio albums
- 1983Forbidden Zone: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 1984Solo
- 1985Pee-wee's Big Adventure (soundtrack)
- 1988Beetlejuice (soundtrack)
- 1988Big Top Pee-wee (soundtrack)
- 1988Midnight Run (soundtrack)
- 1989Batman: Original Motion Picture Score (soundtrack)
- 1990Darkman (soundtrack)
- 1990Dick Tracy (soundtrack)
- 1990Edward Scissorhands: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 1990Nightbreed (soundtrack)
- 1990Wisdom (soundtrack)
- 1992Article 99 (soundtrack)
- 1992Batman Returns (soundtrack)
- 1993Pesadilla antes de Navidad de Tim Burton: Banda sonora en español (soundtrack)
- 1993Sommersby (soundtrack)
- 1993The Nightmare Before Christmas: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 1994Black Beauty (soundtrack)
- 1994L’Étrange Noël de Monsieur Jack (soundtrack)
- 1994Shrunken Heads (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (soundtrack)
- 1994Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas: Colonna sonora originale italiana (soundtrack)
- 1995Dolores Claiborne (soundtrack)
- 1995To Die For (soundtrack)
- 1996Extreme Measures: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 1996Mission: Impossible: Music From the Original Motion Picture Score (soundtrack)
- 1996The Frighteners (soundtrack)
- 1997Flubber (soundtrack)
- 1997Good Will Hunting: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 1997Mars Attacks! (soundtrack)
- 1997Men in Black: The Score (soundtrack)
- 1998A Simple Plan (soundtrack)
- 1998Psycho (soundtrack)
- 1999A Civil Action (soundtrack)
- 1999Instinct (soundtrack)
- 1999Sleepy Hollow: Music From the Motion Picture (soundtrack)
- 2000Proof of Life (soundtrack)
- 2001Men in Black II (soundtrack)
- 2001Planet of the Apes: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 2001Scrooged (soundtrack)
- 2001Spy Kids (soundtrack)
- 2002Red Dragon (soundtrack)
- 2002Spider‐Man: Original Motion Picture Score (soundtrack)
- 2003Hulk (soundtrack)
- 2004Spider‐Man 2: Original Motion Picture Score (soundtrack)
- 2005Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (soundtrack)
- 2005Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (soundtrack)
- 2006Charlotte’s Web: Music From the Motion Picture (soundtrack)
- 2006Serenada Schizophrana
- 2006Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas (Deutscher Original Film-Soundtrack) (soundtrack)
- 2007Meet the Robinsons (soundtrack)
- 2007The Kingdom (soundtrack)
- 2008Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (soundtrack)
- 2008Milk: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 2008Standard Operating Procedure (soundtrack)
- 2008Wanted: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 20099: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 2009Taking Woodstock (soundtrack)
- 2009Terminator Salvation: Original Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 2010Alice in Wonderland (soundtrack)
- 2010The Next Three Days: Music From the Motion Picture (soundtrack)
- 2010The Wolfman (soundtrack)
- 2011Real Steel: Original Motion Picture Score (soundtrack)
- 2012Dark Shadows: Original Score (soundtrack)
- 2012Frankenweenie (soundtrack)
- 2012Hitchcock: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 2012Men in Black 3 (soundtrack)
- 2012Promised Land: Music From the Motion Picture (soundtrack)
- 2012Silver Linings Playbook (soundtrack)
- 2013Epic (soundtrack)
- 2013Oz the Great and Powerful (soundtrack)
- 2013Restless (soundtrack)
- 2014Mr. Peabody & Sherman (soundtrack)
- 2014The Unknown Known (soundtrack)
- 2015Avengers: Age of Ultron (soundtrack)
- 2015Fifty Shades of Grey: Original Motion Picture Score (soundtrack)
- 2015Goosebumps (soundtrack)
- 2015The End of the Tour: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 2016Alice Through the Looking Glass: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 2016Rabbit & Rogue (Original Ballet Score) (soundtrack)
- 2016The Girl on the Train (soundtrack)
- 2017Before I Wake: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 2017Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch (Original Motion Picture Score) (soundtrack)
- 2017Fifty Shades Darker (Original Motion Picture Score) (soundtrack)
- 2017Justice League (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (soundtrack)
- 2017The Circle: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 2017Tulip Fever: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 2018Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (soundtrack)
- 2018Fifty Shades Freed: Original Motion Picture Score (soundtrack)
- 2019Dumbo (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (soundtrack)
- 2019MIB: International: Original Motion Picture Score (soundtrack)
- 2019Violin Concerto "Eleven Eleven" / Piano Quartet
- 2020Dolittle (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (soundtrack)
- 2020The Woman In The Window (Original Score From The Netflix Film) (soundtrack)
- 2021Big Mess
- 2022Aliens Clowns & Geeks (soundtrack)
- 2022Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (soundtrack)
- 2022Wednesday: Original Series Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 2022White Noise: Soundtrack from the Netflix Film (soundtrack)
- 2023Danny Elfman: Violin Concerto "Eleven Eleven" / Adolphus Hailstork: Piano Concerto no. 1
- 2023Summer School (soundtrack)
- 2024Beetlejuice (soundtrack)
- 2024Percussion Concerto / Wunderkammer
- 2025Dark Universe (soundtrack)
- 2025Dracula: Original Motion Picture Score (soundtrack)
- 2026Send Help: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- ?Bienvenue chez les Robinson (Bande originale de film) (soundtrack)
Other work
- 1989Batman
- 1990Edward Scissorhands
- 2002Spider-Man
- 1993The Nightmare Before Christmas
- 2005Corpse Bride
- 2022Wednesday (tv)
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Film Music MapNL Map
- The Dream Factory: Film Reel 7NL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- Superheroes and franchise sound Genre
Danny Elfman, singer of the band Oingo Boingo, wrote a dark, gothic march theme for Tim Burton's Batman (1989).