Born in Los Angeles, he entered the film industry in 1976, initially as an actor. He made his film scoring debut in 1980 for the film Forbidden Zone directed by his older brother Richard Elfman. He has since been nominated for four Academy Awards and won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for Tim Burton's Batman and an Emmy Award for his Desperate Housewives theme. Elfman was honored with the prestigious Richard Kirk award at the 2002 BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music.
He is the son of novelist Blossom Elfman and the brother of director Richard Elfman.
Elfman was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Blossom Elfman (née Bernstein), a writer and teacher, and Milton Elfman, a community in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles. He spent much of his time in the local movie theatre, adoring the music of such film composers as Bernard Herrmann and Franz Waxman.
Stating that he hung out with the "band nerds" in high school, he started a ska band. After dropping out of high school, he followed his brother Richard to France, where he performed with Le Grand Magic Circus, an avant-garde musical theater group. Violin in tow, Elfman next journeyed to Africa where he traveled through Ghana, Mali, and Upper Volta, absorbing new musical styles, including the Ghanaian highlife genre which would eventually influence his own music. Elfman contracted malaria during his one-year stay and was often sick. Eventually he returned home to the United States, where he began to take Balinese music lessons at the CalArts. He was never officially a student at the institute, nonetheless, the instructor encouraged him to continue learning. Elfman stated, "He just laughed, and said, 'Sit. Play.' I continued to sit and play for a couple years." At this time, his brother was forming a new musical theater group, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. The group performed the music for Richard's debut feature film, Forbidden Zone. Danny Elfman composed his first score for the film and played the role of Satan. By the time the movie was completed, they had taken the name Oingo Boingo and begun recording and touring as a rock group.
In 1985, Tim Burton and Paul Reubens invited Elfman to write the score for their first feature film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Elfman was apprehensive at first because of his lack of formal training, but with orchestration assistance from Oingo Boingo guitarist and arranger Steve Bartek, he achieved his goal of emulating the mood of such composers as Nino Rota and Bernard Herrmann. In the booklet for the first volume of Music for a Darkened Theatre, Elfman described the first time he heard his music played by a full orchestra as one of the most thrilling experiences of his life.[citation needed] Elfman immediately developed a rapport with Burton and has gone on to score all but two of Burton's major studio releases: Ed Wood, scored by Howard Shore, which was under production while Elfman and Burton were having a fight, and Sweeney Todd, an adaptation of the 1979 Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical. He also, more recently, accompanied Tim Burton in the composition of music for "Almost Alice", the soundtrack for Alice in Wonderland.
Burton has said of his relationship with Elfman: "We don't even have to talk about the music. We don't even have to intellectualize – which is good for both of us, we're both similar that way. We're very lucky to connect" (Breskin, 1997).
In 2021 he released "Big Mess", his first non-soundtrack album since 1984's "So-Lo", which is often considered to rather be an Oingo Boingo album due to the presence of many other band members.
Elfman has three children: Lola, born in 1979; Mali, born in 1984; and Oliver, born in 2005. On November 29, 2003, Elfman married film actress Bridget Fonda. In 1997 he scored A Simple Plan – his only score for one of her films to date (although he did compose a cue for the film Army of Darkness, in which Fonda has a cameo). He is the uncle of actor Bodhi Elfman who is married to actress Jenna Elfman, known most notably in her role as Dharma in the TV series Dharma and Greg.
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory: Violet Beauregarde
Danny Elfman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Escuchen bien esta historia
De Violet Beauregarde
Ella no piensa que esta mal
Masca masca masca
Masca masca masca
Sin parar
Masca masca sin parar
Masca masca sin parar
Masca masca sin parar
Yeee
Ella mastica sin parar
Tremenda fuerza al masticar
Esa mandibula sin fin
Esta mas grande que un violin!!
Masca masca sin parar
Masca masca sin parar
Masca masca sin parar
Por muchos años mastico
Y asi su boca se agrando
Y con gran fuerza ella mordio
Partiendose la lengua en dos!
Por eso debemos tratar
Violet Beauregarde Salvar
Masca masca sin parar
Masca masca sin parar
Masca masca masca
masca masca masca
Sin parar
The song "Violet Beauregarde" from Danny Elfman's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory soundtrack is a catchy tune that tells the story of a character from the film who chews gum incessantly. The song starts by introducing Violet Beauregarde and her habit of chewing gum without stopping. The repetition of the words "masca masca masca" over and over again represents her endless and seemingly mindless chewing. The chorus emphasizes this with the line "masca masca sin parar" which translates to "chew, chew without stopping."
As the song progresses, it becomes clear that Violet has been chewing gum for years, resulting in her jaw becoming incredibly strong and her mouth growing to an enormous size. The lyrics describe her jaw as "esta mas grande que un violin!!" which means "it's bigger than a violin!!" Impressively, she can still chew gum without stopping despite her massive jaw. However, her habit takes a bad turn when she bites down too hard and splits her tongue in two. The song ends with a call to action to save Violet Beauregarde from her destructive habit.
Overall, "Violet Beauregarde" is a humorous and entertaining song that captures the spirit and quirkiness of the film it accompanies.
Line by Line Meaning
Yeah Yeaaaaah!
Expressing excitement and enthusiasm.
Escuchen bien esta historia
Listen carefully to this story.
De Violet Beauregarde
About Violet Beauregarde.
Ella no piensa que esta mal
She doesn't think it's wrong.
Masca masca masca
Chew, chew, chew.
Masca masca masca
Chew, chew, chew.
Sin parar
Without stopping.
Masca masca sin parar
Chew, chew without stopping.
Masca masca sin parar
Chew, chew without stopping.
Masca masca sin parar
Chew, chew without stopping.
Yeee
Exclamation of surprise.
Ella mastica sin parar
She chews without stopping.
Tremenda fuerza al masticar
Tremendous force when chewing.
Esa mandibula sin fin
That endless jaw.
Esta mas grande que un violin!!
It's bigger than a violin!!
Por muchos años mastico
She chewed for many years.
Y asi su boca se agrando
And so her mouth grew bigger.
Y con gran fuerza ella mordio
And with great force she bit.
Partiendose la lengua en dos!
Splitting her tongue in two!
Por eso debemos tratar
That's why we must try.
Violet Beauregarde Salvar
To save Violet Beauregarde.
Masca masca sin parar
Chew, chew without stopping.
Masca masca sin parar
Chew, chew without stopping.
Masca masca masca
Chew, chew, chew.
masca masca masca
Chew, chew, chew.
Sin parar
Without stopping.
Contributed by Nolan P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.