Danny Elfman - What鈥檚 This? (from 鈥淭he Nightmare Before Christmas鈥�)
Danny Elfman breaks down 鈥淲hat's This?鈥� from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Tim Burton鈥檚 The Nightmare Before Christmas came out in 1993. It鈥檚 a stop-motion animated musical, with music by legendary composer Danny Elfman. He鈥檚 won Emmys, a Grammy, and been nominated for four Oscars. His work includes the music for Tim Burton鈥檚 Batman films, Sam Raimi鈥檚 Spider-Man films, Good Will Hunting, and the theme to The Simpsons. From 1979 to 1995, he was the singer and songwriter in the band Oingo Boingo.
The Nightmare Before Christmas takes place in a world where different holidays all have their own realm. And the story is about Jack Skellington, the leader of Halloweentown, a place where it鈥檚 always Halloween, and Halloween is all they know, and Jack has grown a little tired of it. But then, Jack discovers a portal to Christmastown, with snow and Santa and all things Christmas inhabiting it. He's never seen anything like it, and the discovery changes everything. The song "What鈥檚 This?" takes place in that moment of discovery. In this episode, Danny Elfman tells the story of how it all came together, and how writing and singing this song for Jack Skellington ended up profoundly connecting to his own life.
