In addition to contributing scores to over 100 feature films and themes to television series, Danny Elfman has made a number of appearances in film and on television, typically as himself, in a singing role or as the lead singer of Oingo Boingo. For a full list of Elfman's compositions and discographies, see the List of compositions by Danny Elfman page, his film and concert music discography page and the Oingo Boingo discography page.
| Year | Film/Show | Role | Director | Studio/Distributor | Notes / Accolades |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | "The Gong Show" | Himself (uncredited) | Chuck Barris (Host/Producer) | NBC | Performed trombone with The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo; the group won the episode scoring 24 points out of 30[1] |
| 1977 | I Never Promised You a Rose Garden | Drummer (uncredited) | Anthony Page | Shout! Factory | Drummer, uncredited |
| Hot Tomorrows | Singer | Martin Brest | American Film Institute | Appeared with The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo performing the song "St. James Infirmary Blues"[2] | |
| 1981 | Urgh! A Music War | Himself | Derek Burbidge | Lorimar | As lead singer/songwriter of Oingo Boingo[3] |
| Longshot (aka Long Shot Kids) | E.W. Swackhamer | Greentree Productions | As lead singer/songwriter of Oingo Boingo[4] | ||
| 1982 | Forbidden Zone | Satan | Richard Elfman | Fantoma | |
| 1984 | Good Morning, Mr. Orwell | Himself | Nam June Paik | WNET TV, NYC / Centre Pompidou, Paris | As lead singer/songwriter for Oingo Boingo[5] |
| 1986 | Back to School | Alan Metter | Orion Pictures | As lead singer/songwriter for Oingo Boingo[6] | |
| 1993 | The Nightmare Before Christmas | Jack Skellington (singing voice), Barrel, Clown with the Tear Away Face (voices) | Henry Selick | Touchstone Pictures | In addition writing and producing the score and ten original songs, Elfman provided the singing voice of main character Jack Skellington, among others[7] |
| 1996 | Farewell: Live from the Universal Amphitheatre, Halloween 1995 | Himself | Danny Elfman, Steve Bartek, Ellen Engel (producers) | A&M Records | Appears as lead singer of Oingo Boingo in live concert recording of their final shows as a band Released on VHS concurrent with the album and in 2001 on DVD; currently out-of-print[6] Includes ten minutes of footage of Elfman performing with The Mystic Knight of the Oingo Boingo in the 1970s |
| 1997 | Flubber | Les Mayfield | Walt Disney Pictures, Great Oaks | ||
| 2000 | The Gift | Tommy Lee Ballard | Sam Raimi | Paramount Classics | |
| 2005 | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Oompa-Loompas (voices, uncredited) | Tim Burton | Warner Bros. | In addition to composing the film's score and songs, Elfman provided the singing voices for all Oompa Loompa characters.[8] |
| Corpse Bride | Bonejangles (voice) | ||||
| 2006 | The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson | Himself | Tim Mancinelli, Brian McAloon | CBS Television Studios | Appears as the second guest on December 19, season three, episode 64[9] Discusses early career, scoring Charlotte's Web and his brother Richard, who gave Ferguson his first film role |
| 2008 | Proud Iza | Narrator (voice) | Anna Condo | Fern Films | In addition to providing narration, Elfman's music from Standard Operating Procedure was used for this short film[10] |
| 2010 | DemiUrge Emesis | Aurelio Voltaire | Self produced by Voltaire | Part of Voltaire's stop motion short film series "Chimerascope" featuring voice-overs by music icons including Deborah Harry, Richard Butler and Gerard Way[11] | |
| 2015 | Live from Lincoln Center: Danny Elfman's Music from the Films of Tim Burton | Himself | Andrew Carl Wilk, Jim Fagan | PBS | Performed songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas[12] Won Outstanding Music Direction at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards,[13] Elfman's second Emmy Award |
| 2016 | Score | Matt Schrader | Gravitas Ventures | Appeared among over 50 film composers[14] discussing the craft of writing music for movies and influential figures in the business[15] | |
| 2019 | The Imagineering Story | Leslie Iwerks | Disney+ | Appears in episode 5, "A Carousel of Progress", to discuss his compositions for Hong Kong Disneyland's Mystic Manor[16] | |
| 2020 | Prop Culture | Jason C. Henry | Episode: "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" |
References
edit- ^ Metzger, Richard (June 6, 2011). "The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo on the 'Gong Show,' 1976". DangerousMinds.net. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
...movie maestro Danny Elfman and his brother Richard Elfman were the leaders of the sprawling weirdo performance art/musical troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. Formed in early 70s Los Angeles, here's a look at what their act back then was like, with this 1976 appearance on The Gong Show... Danny is playing the trombone... They won that episode, receiving 24 points out of a possible 30, without getting gonged.
- ^ Maslin, Janet (October 4, 1977). "'Hot Tomorrows' Is Grim Film". The New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
At the club, an eerie-looking combo in heavymakeup is playing "St. James infirmary"... Paracise Ballroom sequence performed by the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo...
- ^ Palmer, Robert (April 1, 1983). "ROCK MUSIC WAR". The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ Cahill, Devon (March 13, 2019). "Review: LONGSHOT (1981)". BadTransfer. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
Trivia tidbit: I'm not an Oingo Boingo fan, but for whatever it's worth, they perform at the Foosball Spectacular.
- ^ Schneider, Martin (June 15, 2017). "Peter Gabriel, Laurie Anderson, Oingo Boingo, Allen Ginsberg, John Cage & Others Usher in 1984". DangerousMinds. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ a b Buck, David. "Mystic Knights of the Movie Soundtrack", Tedium, March 14, 2018.
- ^ Ng, David (October 24, 2015). "Danny Elfman can relate to 'Nightmare Before Christmas' hero Jack Skellington". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
- ^ Lowman, Rob (July 18, 2019). "It's music to Oompa Loompa by". Orlando Sentinel.
Things got a little crazy at composer Danny Elfman's home studio when he began creating the singing parts for the Oompa Loompa songs in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... Elfman laid down the vocals in his home. He did every part six times.
- ^ "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: Episode #3.64". IMDB.com. n.d. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
- ^ "Proud Iza 2008 Directed by Anna Condo". LetterBoxD.com. n.d. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ "CHIMERASCOPE SHORT FILM SERIES". Voltaire.net. n.d. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
Narrators involved in the Chimerascope series so far include Deborah Harry of Blondie, Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs, Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance and Danny Elfman.
- ^ "Live from Lincoln Center: Danny Elfman's Music from Films of Tim Burton". PBS.org. October 30, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
- ^ "Danny Elfman: Awards & Nominations". PBS.org. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
Outstanding Music Directions - 2016 Winner - Danny Elfman, Music Direction by - Danny Elfman's Music From The Films of Tim Burton (Live From Lincoln Center) - PBS - A Lincoln Center Media Production.
- ^ "The Interviews". Score-Movie.com. Epicleff Media. n.d. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
- ^ Goldstein, Gary (June 22, 2017). "Review: 'Score: A Film Music Documentary' explores composers' art". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
Matt Schrader's "Score: A Film Music Documentary" spotlights such a rich and fascinating topic — the craft of motion picture scoring — that its mere presence proves a feast for the eyes and ears...the film is largely devoted to feting some of Hollywood's most influential composers...
- ^ Iwerks, Leslie (December 6, 2019). "A Carousel of Progress". The Imagineering Story. Season 1. Disney+. Retrieved December 10, 2019.