List of compositions by Danny Elfman
This is a list of compositions by Danny Elfman for film, television, stage and the concert hall.
For a list of recordings, see Danny Elfman discography, and for Elfman's work as lead singer/songwriter of Oingo Boingo, see Oingo Boingo discography.
Film scores
The following list consists of select films for which Danny Elfman composed the score and/or songs.1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Additional film work
In addition to his feature scores, Elfman has supplied thematic material and additional music for films scored by others :| Year | Title | Director | Composer | Notes |
| 1984 | Bachelor Party | Neal Israel | Robert Folk | "Bachelor Party Theme" with Oingo Boingo |
| 1985 | Weird Science | John Hughes | Ira Newborn | "Weird Science" title song with Oingo Boingo |
| 1991 | Pure Luck | Nadia Tass | Jonathan Sheffer | "Main Title" & "We Found Her" |
| 1992 | Army of Darkness | Sam Raimi | Joseph LoDuca | "March of the Dead" |
| 1994 | Shrunken Heads | Richard Elfman | Richard Band | |
| 1997 | Scream 2 | Wes Craven | Marco Beltrami | "Cassandra Aria" & "Cassandra Aria Reprise" |
| 1998 | Modern Vampires | Richard Elfman | Michael Wandmacher | |
| 1999 | My Favorite Martian | Donald Petrie | John Debney | "Uncle Martin's Theme" |
| 2001 | Heartbreakers | David Mirkin | John Debney | |
| 2001 | Novocaine | David Atkins | Steve Bartek | |
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 | Sam Raimi | Christopher Young | Includes material from Elfman's Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 scores |
| 2010 | Kick-Ass | Matthew Vaughn | John Murphy Henry Jackman Marius de Vries Ilan Eshkeri | "Walk to Rasul's" |
| 2011 | Do Not Disturb | Mali Elfman | Mike Einziger Oliver Hecks |
Concert and stage works
The following list consists of select works composed for the stage and concert hall.| Year | Title | Other Artists | Notes / Accolades |
| 2005 | Serenada Schizophrana | Commissioned and premiered by the American Composers Orchestra, conducted by Stephen Sloane | First commissioned concert work Premiered February 23, 2005 at Carnegie Hall Recorded in 2006 by conductor John Mauceri and the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra |
| 2008 | Rabbit & Rogue | First ballet score, written for Twyla Tharp's Rabbit and Rogue Co-commission by American Ballet Theatre and Orange County Performing Arts Center Premiered June 3, 2008, at the Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center LA Film Festival's Rabbit and Rogue contest provided free usage of Elfman's music to which filmmakers created short films | |
| 2011 | Iris | Commissioned by Cirque Du Soleil for director Philippe Decouflé's Cirque du Soleil show based on the history and themes of cinema Elfman's score was pre-recorded with an orchestra of 100 musicians, that was then mixed with the show's eight live, in-house musicians during performance. | |
| 2013 | Danny Elfman's Music from the Films of Tim Burton | John Mauceri conductor | Nearly two hours of orchestral suites newly arranged by Elfman from his scores for the films of Tim Burton Premiered at the Royal Albert Hall in London on October 7, 2013, with John Mauceri conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra, and Elfman performing the songs of characters Jack Skellington and Oogie Boogie in The Nightmare Before Christmas segment. Continues to tour internationally, with performances in Europe, Japan, Australia, and throughout the U.S. The 2015 performance at Lincoln Center was recorded live and broadcast on PBS |
| 2017 | Violin Concerto "Eleven Eleven" | Violinist Sandy Cameron, conductor John Mauceri and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra | First violin concerto Co-commissioned by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Stanford Live at Stanford University, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra for violinist Sandy Cameron Premiered in Prague June 21, 2017, with Cameron, Mauceri and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra Recorded in 2019 with Cameron, Mauceri and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra |
| 2018 | Piano Quartet | Berlin Philharmonic Piano Quartet | First piano quartet Co-commissioned by the Lied Center for Performing Arts University of Nebraska in Lincoln and the Berlin Philharmonic Piano Quartet Premiered February 6, 2018, at the Lied Center in Lincoln, Nebraska |
| 2019 | Incidental music for the Broadway production written by Taylor Mac, directed by George C. Wolfe and produced by Scott Rudin | ||
| 2019 | Percussion Quartet | Third Coast Percussion | Commissioned by Third Coast Percussion, who premiered the piece at Philip Glass Center's 2019 Central Coast Days & Nights Festival on October 10, 2019 |
| 2020 | Danny Elfman: Past, Present and Future! From Boingo to Batman and Beyond! | TBA | Announced for the April 11 and 18 concerts at Coachella 2020, but festival postponed to October 9–18 due to the coronavirus pandemic. |
Television
Elfman has written the theme music and occasional episodic scores for several television series, including:| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1985 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Episode: "The Jar", directed by Tim Burton |
| 1985 | Amazing Stories | Episodes: "Mummy, Daddy" & "The Family Dog" with Steve Bartek |
| 1986 | Pee-wee's Playhouse | Episodes: "Monster in the Playhouse," "Cowboy and the Cowntess," "Store," & "Pee-Wee Catches A Cold" |
| 1986 | Sledge Hammer! | Theme music only Score composed by Don Davis, Ron Grant, Lance Rubin & Richard Stone |
| 1986 | Fast Times | Theme music only, with Oingo Boingo Score composed by Barry Goldberg, Arthur Barrow & Steve Schiff |
| 1989 | Tales from the Crypt | Theme music only Score composed by various others including Jay Ferguson, Nicholas Pike, Alan Silvestri, J. Peter Robinson & Michael Kamen |
| 1989 | Beetlejuice: The Animated Series | Theme music only Score composed by Tom Szczesniak |
| 1989 | The Simpsons | Theme music only Score composed by Richard Gibbs, Alf Clausen & Bleeding Fingers Music Nominated- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music |
| 1990 | The Flash | Theme music only Score composed by Shirley Walker |
| 1992 | "Main Title" & "End Credit" Score composed by various others including Shirley Walker | |
| 1993 | Family Dog | Theme music only Score composed by Steve Bartek |
| 1997 | Perversions of Science | Theme music only Score composed by J. Peter Robinson & Ernest Troost |
| 1999 | Dilbert | Theme music only, rearrangement of the title song for Forbidden Zone Score composed by Adam Cohen & Ian Dye |
| 2004 | Desperate Housewives | Theme music only Score composed by Steve Bartek, Stewart Copeland & Steve Jablonsky Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music |
| 2005 | Point Pleasant | Theme music only Score composed by Robert Duncan |
| 2017 | When We Rise | Miniseries Score composed with Chris Bacon |
In 2019 selections from his score to the film Midnight Run were used in the third season of Netflix's Stranger Things, including "Stairway Chase" in episodes 5 and 6, and "Wild Ride" and "Package Deal" in episode 6.
Video games
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2004 | Fable | Opening title theme Score composed by Russell Shaw |
| 2008 | ' | Excerpts from Batman Score arranged by Morgan Peeters |
| 2008 | Fable II | Composed with Russell Shaw |
| 2009 | ' | Themes from Wanted Score composed by Ulf Andersson |
| 2012 | ' | Excerpts from Batman Compliments score composed by Rob Westwood |
| 2013 | Puppet Masterpiece Theater: The Circus | iPad app created by children's entertainment group Organa Kids |
| 2014 | ' | Excerpts from Batman Compliments score composed by Rob Westwood |
Miscellaneous
- 1987: Music for Sally Cruikshank's Face Like A Frog animated short.
- 1991: Music for Nike's "Barkley Superhero" animated television commercial.
- 1996: Music for a 1996/97 Nissan television advertising campaign.
- 1998: Music for a 1998/99 Lincoln-Mercury television advertising campaign.
- 1998: Provided part-composed, part-sampled music for Luigi Serafini's solo exhibition il Teatro della Pittura at the Fondazione Mudima di Milano in Milan, Italy.
- 1998: For Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot Psycho remake, Elfman and Steve Bartek adapted the original score composed by Bernard Herrmann.
- 2000: Music for Tim Burton's "Stainboy" animated internet series commissioned by Shockwave.com.
- 2002: Music for Honda's "Power of Dreams" advertising campaign, the first cinema commercial to be shot in the IMAX format.
- 2006: Elfman's "Overeager Overture" commemorating conductor John Mauceri's tenure with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra premiered September 15, 2006, at the Hollywood Bowl, conducted by Mauceri.
- 2006: Provided music for Erik Sanko's first feature-length marionette performance The Fortune Teller.
- 2009: Incidental music for the Tim Burton exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 2009-2010.
- 2013: Composed the music and provided the English-language vocals for the Hong Kong Disneyland attraction Mystic Manor.
- 2016: Scored the "Making of an Oscar" animation which opened the 88th Academy Awards.
- 2016: Composed atonal "horror" music for the short Funny or Die video "Trump Stalks Clinton," which used footage from the Second U.S. Presidential debate.
- 2020: Re-recorded and released a "nursery rhyme" version of his 1982 Oingo Boingo song "Running on a Treadmill" while under quarantine from the coronavirus pandemic.