[on buying a private island] Money doesn't buy you happiness, but it buys you a big enough yacht to sail right up to it.

I've been told I smell good. I don't look like I smell good.

How many chances to you get to make a musical about a serial killer? The minute Tim Burton approached me, I was in.

I like the challenge of trying different things and wondering whether it's going to work or whether I'm going to fall flat on my face.

You're looking at each and every potential corner for an air bubble to escape. Absolutely! You're on the best of your game.

I had never experienced anything like the response I got from people for Pirates of the Caribbean, where you meet a 75-year-old woman who had seen Pirates and somehow related to the character, and then five minutes later you meet a six-year-old who says, 'Oh, you're Captain Jack!' What a rush. What a gift. That was the challenge with Wonka, too--to be, in a sense, like Bugs Bunny. I find it magical that a three-year-old can be mesmerized by Bugs, but so can a 40-year-old or an 80-year-old. It's a great challenge to see if you can appeal to that huge an age range.

When kids hit one year old, it's like hanging out with a miniature drunk. You have to hold onto them. They bump into things. They laugh and cry. They urinate. They vomit.