Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street (or simply Sweeney Todd), directed by Tim Burton, is an adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical of the same name. The original musical did extremely well and has since been performed by theater troupes all across the world. The movie, meanwhile, was praised as a return to form for the director though it's something of a cult classic.

RELATED: Batman Returns & 9 More Terrific Tim Burton Films That Scream Halloween

Sweeney Todd tells the story of a man driven mad after having the woman he loved stolen from him and getting accused for a crime he didn't commit. Upon release from prison, he plans to exact revenge on the man who caused his current lot in life, aided by the maniacal Mrs. Lovett. They figure out a mutual solution from there and do their best to take care of business while not getting caught. The plot is familiar to many, but let's take a look at some facts you might not have known.

The Music Is Extremely Complicated, Theoretically Speaking

Sweeney Todd Stage

The original production of the Stephen Sondheim theater piece had an orchestra consisting of 26 members, with 6 of those being violinists. Aside from the sheer amount of musicians employed for the score, a shocking 80% of the production is sung, with only about 20% consisting of normal spoken dialogue.

The composition of the pieces also consists mostly of classical techniques, like interlocking melodies referred to as Counterpoint and repetitive melodic phrases which pop up again throughout the play, called Leitmotifs.

The Story Is Based On A Penny Dreadful

Todd and Mrs. Lovett on the beach

A penny dreadful (no, not the show) is an old pamphlet printed on low-quality paper that would usually show up in drugstores in London and other locations throughout England in the Victorian era, and even into the modern-day. They were usually grisly tales of murder and intrigue that were widely looked down upon, like video nasties would be later on in the country's history.

This particular tale is based on a story called The String Of Pearls, which would have more details added as the story was adapted.

No One's Sure If It Actually Happened Or Not

A shot of London from the film

There have been multiple people in the history of Sweeney Todd who have gone out of their way to claim that what happens in the musical actually happened and that it isn't just an urban legend that was adapted into a penny dreadful.

RELATED: 10 Halloween Flicks You Can Watch Year Round

That being said, a lot of scholars have looked into the veracity of this claim, just to see if there was perhaps a historical Sweeney Todd that ever lived and if not by that name, then if a similar account of his crimes even existed in the first place. Time and time again, not a shred of evidence proving that the musical is based on fact ever came to light

Stephen Sondheim's Production Wasn't The First Adaptation

A live play on which the film was based

While Sondheim's production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street is both the most well-recognized and probably the most critically acclaimed of any adaptation, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's the only one. Tim Burton's film was based on this adaptation, but only because Burton had seen it when he was younger.

In 1847,  there was a direct adaptation of The String Of Pearls that was billed as if it was based on a true story for advertising purposes, and it's perhaps responsible for perpetuating the rumor about its supposed historical accuracy. Then in 1973, Christopher Bond put out a stage adaptation which was later used by Sondheim as the basis for his musical.

Themes Of Classism Are Explored

Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin

When someone first decides to look into Sweeney Todd for the sake of analysis, it's very easy to zoom in on the characters themselves rather than what's going on around them. After all, Sweeney's (Johnny Depp) revenge against Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) takes center stage, but that would be ignoring the class divide at the story's core.

Both Mrs. Lovett's (Helena Bonham Carter) issues at the pie shop and Benjamin Barker's/Sweeney Todd's issues are born out of class struggle and unfair treatment by the powers that be. Mrs. Lovett can't afford meat that isn't ill-gotten and keep her shop afloat at the same time, and Todd's struggles came after being abused by a judge who committed a crime he never should have gotten away with.

Charles Dickens Probably Inspired The Story

A photo of Charles Dickens

While it might be easy not to allow Charles Dickens his proper due in the invention of the story, it's very likely that The String Of Pearls is only slightly original. There are a few instances where Charles Dickens alludes to cannibalism in his own stories, and at least once when he's talking in reference to the quality of the meat that's being served in the local shops.

RELATED: 10 Darkest Fan Theories About Tim Burton Films

In the earlier instance, he mentions it could be cat meat. In the latter instance, he talks specifically about the possibility of being served human meat. It's probably no coincidence that The String Of Pearls came out only a couple months after that story.

The Film Wasn't Advertised As A Musical

Sweeney Todd pointing his razor at someone

One of the major issues with the film is that the studio worried that they were taking a risk on it, as it was a strange mix of the slasher and musical. So instead of cutting some of Sweeney Todd or deciding to ruin it by removing the musical elements, it was merely advertised as another Gothic Burton horror movie.

The issue with this is that it's both insulting to casual moviegoers who don't hate musicals and to those who are involved in theater, since this advertising choice all but implies that Sweeney Todd would be better off without the singing.

Tim Burton Really Loves The Musical

A younger photo of Tim Burton holding a skeleton

The first time that Tim Burton had come into contact with the story was when he was attending CalArts in the '80s. He saw a showing of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber OF Fleet Street, and he was immediately enthralled with the story, the look of the play, the music, the character design, and the whole spectacle of the production altogether.

RELATED: 10 Batman Villains We Wish Appeared In The Tim Burton Films

He was quoted as saying that it reminded him of a silent movie with music, which is probably because of the heavy German Expressionist element both in the stage play and in his own adaptation.

Sweeney Looks Like A Walking Corpse

Todd gazing out of a window towards the viewer

Sweeney's look was supposed to present him as if he were a walking corpse, which only makes sense given his backstory. He's a man who was robbed of his whole life by judge Turpin, so much so that he came back under an assumed identity with only revenge on his mind.

He's like a pale ghost with unfinished business, going out of his way to make absolutely sure that he rights the wrong that was committed when Turpin stole and then discarded his wife while holding his daughter hostage. The white streak in his hair is the last bit of life and emotion he has left within him.

Stephen Sondheim Really Loves The Film

Sweeney Todd Premiere

Going into the project, Sondheim (above, far left) was not exactly enthused with the fact that one of his favorite projects was going to be converted to film. Perhaps a major factor in this is that a lot of playwrights don't like it that plays (musical or not) have kind of fallen behind film, since they're two completely different mediums. Playwrights simply don't think that film should get all the glory when the theater is still alive and well.

That being said, Sondheim was actually pleasantly surprised at the end product and also conceded that the adaptational changes made (such as a few cut songs) were important and well-done. In fact, Burton got Sondheim's blessing to adapt the musical as far back as the '80s. In his book Finishing the Hat, Sondheim praised Sweeney Todd and even gave it the honor of being the only cinematic adaptation of his works that he loves.

NEXT: Every Johnny Depp & Tim Burton Movie, Ranked (According To IMDb)