Danny Elfman recalls baffling flight attendants when composing the iconic 'Batman' theme tune in an airplane bathroom
- Elfman rushed to the airplane bathroom to record ideas he had for the"Batman" score.
- He went so often that the flight attendants took notice.
- "They were probably going, 'What the f--- he is doing so frequently?'" Elfman told Marc Maron.
One of the most memorable pieces of music created by Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman is the score from Tim Burton's 1989 classic "Batman."
Elfman revealed on a recent episode of the "WTF with Marc Maron" podcast that the genesis for the score came to him while taking one of his many trips home from the "Batman" set in London.
"That hit me at the worst possible time," Elfman recalled to Maron. "On the way home, the [score] f---ing hits me. And it was like, what do I do? I'm on a 747. How do I do this? I am going to forget this all. I'm going to land and they're going to play some f---ing Beatles song, and I'm going to forget everything."
So scared his ideas would slip his mind before landing back in Los Angeles, Elfman rushed to the airplane bathroom and using the recorder he always kept with him to capture ideas that would come to him, began recording what would become the "Batman" score.
But Elfman says he continued to go to the bathroom to record ideas, as he didn't want the person sitting next to him to hear what he was doing.
"I start running in the bathroom, and I go back to my seat," Elfman said. "Ten minutes later, back in the bathroom. And then back to my seat and then back to the bathroom."
Elfman said it got to a point where the flight attendants on the plane began to take notice.
"Ten minutes later, I am back in the bathroom," he said. "And I open the door and this time there are three flight attendants. They were probably going, 'What the f--- he is doing so frequently?'"
The music Elfman originated in that bathroom would go on to become one of the most memorable elements of the Tim Burton-era "Batman" movies, which starred Michael Keaton in the Dark Knight role.
The score also went on to win a Grammy.
Elfman's other works include Oscar-nominated scores for movies like "Milk," "Good Will Hunting," "Men in Black," and "Big Fish." He will next be doing music for Sam Raimi's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness."