Elfman, who is of Russian and Polish descent, grew up in a racially mixed community in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles, where he was known as ‘the whitest white kid’.[1] He spent much of his time in the local movie theatre, adoring the music of such film composers as Bernard Herrmann and Franz Waxman.
After dropping out of high school, he followed his brother Richard to France, where he played his violin on the street and performed with Le Grand Magic Circus, an avant-garde musical theater group.
To date Elfman has scored the following Burton films:
- Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985) – his first orchestral score.
- Beetlejuice (1988)
- Batman (1989) – his first large-scale action score.
- Edward Scissorhands (1990) – his personal favorite of his own scores.[citation needed]
- Batman Returns (1992)
- The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) – in which he also performed the singing voice of the lead character (Jack Skellington) and two supporting roles (Barrel, one of Oogie Boogie’s three henchmen, and The Clown with the Tearaway Face).
- Mars Attacks! (1996)
- Sleepy Hollow (1999)
- Planet of the Apes (2001)
- Big Fish (2003)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) – in which he also provided the voices for the Oompa-Loompas in the musical numbers.
- Corpse Bride (2005) – in which he also performed the role of Bonejangles.
Kilde: Wikipedia
