Music of Danny Elfman by San Diego Pops Review

San Diego Pops but Fizzles on Danny Elfman's Music in Tim Burton Films

On the Friday of San Diego Comic Con, the San Diego Pops continued a tradition of performing music from pop culture with the music of Danny Elfman from the films of Tim Burton. Danny Elfman's music brought out a strong crowd. Some attendees were so enthusiastic that they dressed as Jack Skellington, Oogie Boogie, and Sally. The show was held on the Embarcadero behind the Convention Center, the long tail of the Hall H line could be seen wrapping around will-call.

Danny Elfman himself wrote the music to be performed by the San Diego Pops. It was not an adaptation. Original sketches were provided by Tim Burton himself as slides during the presentation. I am told that Burton also selected the clips that accompanied certain musical passages. The show truly had a lot to offer.

The conductor, John Mauceri, got right to the point. There was little chatter leading up to the music. In some ways, I prefer that to the extended segways found in similar pop culture performances, like Video Games Live. On the other hand, it felt a bit business-like and impersonal. Mauceri is clearly a talented conductor but I wonder if he was particularly interested in this music. 

For example, the show opened with Pee Wee's Big Adventure soundtrack, the Rube Goldberg Machine. In the film, this piece of music has a wild feel, almost like a circus. When performed by the San Diego Pops, it lacked some of the original energy and came across rather tame. They were the same notes but something was lacking in the performance.

This was a sympathetic audience who came excited to hear the music of Tim Burton performed live. However, even with a very enthusiastic crowd, the performance failed to receive a strong response. While technically well-executed, the musicians did not capture the fun of Danny Elfman's score. When the first bars of the Nightmare Before Christmas were heard, the crowd erupted in applause but the thrill slowly dwindled over the next several minutes only to conclude with a polite "golf clap" at its finale.

Personally, I would love to see the San Diego Pops take another crack at this next year. It is not quite where it needs to be but with some work, it could be. My advice would be to work on the passion and perhaps trim the selection. Tim Burton has some great films (like Beetlejuice, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Edward Scissorhands) but he also has some dogs (like Planet of the Apes and Alice in Wonderland). Although I love the music by Danny Elfman in even the worst of Tim Burton's films, it might be best not to remind the audience with clips of these less than stellar movies.