JohnnyDepp-Zone.com

“I feel incredibly lucky to have been given these various gigs by Tim over the years, ” Johnny Depp told reporters as he walked the red carpet at the gala tribute to Tim Burton at New York’s Museum of Modern Art on November 17th, “and to be chosen by him to interpret a story and a character. I mean, he’s a complete genius.”

Johnny, who has appeared in Burton’s films Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd, and the forthcoming Alice in Wonderland, praised his friend’s integrity as an artist: “He’s uniquely Tim. He’s pure, he’s a true, honest-to-goodness artist,” Johnny said. “An auteur, [an] obviously amazing filmmaker [. . .]. He’s just Tim and he doesn’t sway in any other direction. He does what he feels is right, and there’s no compromise whatsoever.”

The gala, which raised funds for the Museum of Modern Art’s Department of Film, celebrated the Tim Burton exhibition which will be open to the public from November 22, 2009 through April 26, 2010. “It’s mind-blowing that he’s here,[. . .] being celebrated at the Museum of Modern Art,” said Helena Bonham Carter, “and he’s not even dead yet.” The director agreed, calling the exhibit “surreal.”

“It’s an amazing honor, and it’s a bit scary,” Tim Burton told reporters. “It was all just kind of private stuff, so it’s kind of opening up the closets in a way. But they’ve done it very beautifully, so I’m quite excited about it. I feel [. . .] in safe hands.”

The Zone thanks Emma for sharing several wire service stories about the Tim Burton tribute; you can read more about the event on the Zone’s News & Views forum, including eyewitness accounts from Zone members who attended the gala. To see a larger version of the photo of Johnny, CLICK HERE, and to see a photo of Johnny with Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter and Danny DeVito, CLICK HERE. –Part-Time Poet