The Nightmare Before Christmas Turns 30_ Danny Elfman on Creating Jack's Singing
The Nightmare Before Christmas Turns 30_ Danny Elfman on Creating Jack's Singing
Transcript
00:00 There are few who deny it, what I do I am the best, for my talents are renowned far and wide.
00:08 I didn't intend to write the songs for myself. I'm not sure exactly what point I realized
00:14 that I was the one that should sing this part, but in developing the songs, Jack's ups and downs
00:22 were so extreme, and I was writing so much. Jack is a hybrid between Tim and myself. On the one
00:28 hand, he's got a lot of Tim's eccentricities, and on the other hand, his schizophrenic nature is much
00:34 like my own in terms of talking himself into stuff. I've read these Christmas books so many
00:40 times. I know the stories and I know the rhymes. I know the Christmas carols all by heart.
00:47 My skull's so full it's tearing me apart. The beauty of Jack is that he talks himself into
00:54 realizing what Christmas is all about, and when he's down in pieces in the graveyard and he's
00:58 screwed everything up completely, nothing happens to convince him that he's the pumpkin king again.
01:02 He just talks himself into it. Well, what the heck, I went and did my best, and by God, I really
01:10 tasted something swell. And this enthusiasm was really contagious. I really got into it,
01:17 and I really began to like going from the ups and downs and the highs and lows and being able
01:22 to really stretch the voice around. It was so much fun, and unlike Tim, Jack was very talkative.
01:30 He talks and talks and talks. You can't shut him up, so that's the side of Jack that's like me.
01:36 In his songs, he sees anything and he just goes on and on and on and on describing it.
01:41 What's this? What's this? There's color everywhere. What's this? There's white things in the air.
01:46 What's this? I can't believe my eyes. I must be dreaming. Wake up, Jack. This isn't fair.
01:50 What's this? It's really fun, and he gets to do some really delicious moments. I think my favorite
01:57 is where he's explaining to Halloweenland he's just found Christmas, and he's explaining these
02:04 objects he's brought back, you know, these presents and things. This is a thing called a present.
02:09 The whole thing starts with a box. And they just don't get it. It's a box.
02:13 The locks are filled with a pox. A pox. How do lights look pox? And they just,
02:19 they keep thinking, well, what is it that's interesting? Is it horrible? And he's going,
02:22 no, no, no, no. And finally at the end, he conjures up this tale of sandy claws,
02:28 and he says, I may as well give them what they want. And on a dark, cold night,
02:33 under full moonlight, he flies into a fog like a vulture in the sky.
02:38 That was so much fun to do. And then all of a sudden, well, the best I must confess,
02:45 I'm safe for the last. And he really, now he's got their attention.
02:51 I did the demos, and at a certain point, I went to Tim, and I said, there's a lot of better
03:08 singers than I am, but Jack is for me. He is me. And Tim McGrave.
03:17 I don't believe what's happening to me. My hopes, my dreams, my fantasy.