Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd Peter Mountain/Courtesy of DreamWorks

The director recalls that Depp continued to find inspiration in the most unlikely places. Three weeks before the opening of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, studio execs approached Burton and asked if he couldn't somehow have Depp's skin darkened for his characterization of Willy Wonka: "They kept thinking we were basing it on Michael Jackson. We weren't, but they kept thinking we were. He based it on that Vogue [editor] — what's her name? Anna Wintour."

While shooting Charlie, Depp also began working on Burton's Corpse Bride, another stop-motion animation pic. This was Depp's first foray into voice acting for an animated motion film. The part of Victor van Dort called for singing, but Burton says that Depp shied away from the prospect: "He didn't sing. We talked about it, but he was terrified. He is musical for sure. That is why it is funny that he was scared in that — but then says: 'Okay, I'll do a big musical next.'"

DEPP'S BIG MUSICAL MOMENT
With Sweeney Todd, Depp throws himself wholeheartedly into the operatic role of the murderous barber. And, for Burton, it was a chance to tell a story that he had long admired: "I saw it when I was a student when I wrote in London. I wasn't a real theatergoer or anything, but I loved it, and I decided 'Wow! This is amazing.' I was involved with it about ten years ago, but I sort of went off and got involved in other things. But then recently I started thinking about it again. I looked at an old drawing that I did, and I thought it looked like Johnny and Helena [Bonham Carter]. I didn't know who they were at the time that I did the drawing, and it seemed like a weird fate to me."

But the production had its challenges. Perhaps most alarming to lovers of the Broadway show, which features Stephen Sondheim music and lyrics, is that few of the cast are trained singers. "None of them are professional singers except for one of the characters. But I think it gives an extra layer of something that you don't necessarily get from something on stage," says Burton. So instead of sidestepping the issue, Burton embraced it fully: "When I first read the script, there was actually less music in it. The script had been through lots of different drafts and all. So John [Logan], the writer, and I ended up putting more music back into it because we wanted to keep the spirit of the show, as it [is] a musical."

Rather than wait to see if Sweeney lives or dies at the box office, Burton is plowing ahead with new projects. He's already developing a stop-motion animation version of Alice in Wonderland as well as a remake of his 1984 curio Frankenweenie. As long-time collaborator and fellow goth misfit Depp has said before, he's never seen someone so obviously out of place in Hollywood fit right in as well as Tim Burton.