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.
Making Christmas
Danny Elfman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This time, this time
[GROUP]
Making Christmas
[CLOWN]
Making Christmas
[MAYOR]
Making Christmas, making Christmas
Is so fine
[GROUP]
It's ours this time
And won't the cildren be surprised
It's ours this time
[CORPSE KID]
Making Christmas
[MUMMY]
Making Christmas
[MUMMY & CORPSE KID]
Making Christmas
[WITCHES]
Time to give them something fun
[WITCHES & UNDERSEA GAL]
They'll talk about for years to come
[GROUP]
Let's have a cheer from everyone
It's time to party
[DUCK TOY]
Making Christmas, making Christmas
[VAMPIRES]
Snakes and mice get wrapped up so nice
With spiders legs and pretty bows
[VAMPIRES & WINGED DEMON]
It's ours this time
[CORPSE FATHER]
All together, that and this
[CORPSE FATHER & WEREWOLF]
With all our tircks we're
[CORPSE FATHER, WEREWOLF & DEVIL]
Making Christmastime
[WEREWOLF]
Here comes jack
[JACK]
I don't believe what's happening to me
My hopes, my dreams, my fantasies
Hee, hee, hee, hee
[HARLEQUIN DEMON]
Won't they be impressed, I am a genius
See how I transform the old rat
Into a most delightful hat
[JACK]
Hmm, my compliments from me to you
On this your most intriguing hst
Consider though this substitute
A bat in place of this old rat
Huh! No, no, no, now that's all wrong
This thing will never make a present
It's been dead for much too long
Try something fresher, something pleasant
Try again, don't give up
[THREE MR. HYDES]
All together, that and this
With all our tricks we're making Christmastime
[GROUP]
This time, this time
Making Christmas, making Christmas
La, la, la
It's almost here
[GROUP & WEREWOLF]
And we can't wait
[GROUP & HARLEQUIN]
So ring the bells and celebrate
[GROUP]
'Cause when the full moon starts to climb
We'll all sing out
[JACK]
It's Christmastime
Hee, hee, hee
The lyrics to Danny Elfman's song Making Christmas represent the enthusiasm and excitement of a group of Halloween Town residents for the upcoming Christmas celebrations. The song begins with the Clown expressing his excitement for the occasion and calling out for everyone to start working on Making Christmas. The Mayor and others join in, expressing joy in the fine process of Making Christmas. The Corpse Kid and Mummy follow, indicating their enthusiasm by repeating the same phrase. In the next stanza, the Witches suggest making something fun and exciting for the children, which they can talk about for years to come. Vampires and winged demons also express their participation in the celebrations by wrapping up snakes and mice in pretty bows.
The song reaches its peak when Jack Skellington, the leader of Halloween Town, makes an appearance. He expresses disbelief and excitement on account of his hopes, dreams, and fantasies finally coming true. Meanwhile, a harlequin demon claims to be a genius and transforms an old rat into a delightful hat, which Jack appreciates but later dismisses, as he wants something fresher and pleasant. The three Mr. Hydes and the rest of the group continue to chant and express support for making Christmas while they eagerly wait for the full moon to rise.
Line by Line Meaning
This time, this time
We're doing it now, we're doing it right
Making Christmas
We're creating a special time of year
Making Christmas
We're focused on making Christmas amazing
Making Christmas, making Christmas
Is so fine
We're feeling so good about making this special time
It's ours this time
And won't the cildren be surprised
It's ours this time
We've got this, and the kids are going to love it
Making Christmas
We're creating something special
Making Christmas
We're focused on making Christmas amazing
Making Christmas
We're creating something special
Time to give them something fun
Let's give them something they'll enjoy
They'll talk about for years to come
It will be so memorable, they'll talk about it forever
Let's have a cheer from everyone
It's time to party
Let's all celebrate and have a good time
Making Christmas, making Christmas
We're focused on making Christmas amazing
Snakes and mice get wrapped up so nice
With spiders legs and pretty bows
Even creepy crawlies can look festive
It's ours this time
We're in charge and it's going to be great
All together, that and this
We're all working together to create something amazing
With all our tircks we're
Our skills and creativity will make it great
Making Christmastime
We're creating something special for Christmas
Here comes jack
Jack is here, and he's excited about Christmas
I don't believe what's happening to me
My hopes, my dreams, my fantasies
Hee, hee, hee, hee
Jack can't believe his excitement for Christmas and joy he feels
Won't they be impressed, I am a genius
See how I transform the old rat
Into a most delightful hat
He knows people will be impressed by his cleverness in making something amazing out of nothing
Hmm, my compliments from me to you
On this your most intriguing hst
Consider though this substitute
A bat in place of this old rat
Huh! No, no, no, now that's all wrong
This thing will never make a present
It's been dead for much too long
Try something fresher, something pleasant
Try again, don't give up
Jack is giving feedback on the hat creation and suggesting improvements, while also encouraging others to keep trying if something isn't working
All together, that and this
With all our tricks we're making Christmastime
We're all working together to make Christmas amazing, using all of our creativity and skills
This time, this time
Making Christmas, making Christmas
La, la, la
It's almost here
It's nearly time for Christmas, and we're working hard to create something special
And we can't wait
We're so excited for Christmas to come
So ring the bells and celebrate
Let's all celebrate and enjoy this special time
'Cause when the full moon starts to climb
We'll all sing out
When Christmas arrives, we'll all be celebrating and singing together
It's Christmastime
Hee, hee, hee
It's Christmas, and we're all so excited
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Danny Elfman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind