Other mistake: Based on the location of the barber's chair with the picture window in Todd's barber shop and the layout of the exterior of the building, there is no possible way that the chute behind the chair would be able to dump the bodies directly into the basement without going through the center of Ms. Lovett's shop.
Sweeney Todd (2007)
Plot summary
Directed by: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen
Benjamin Barker was a happy man who had a beautiful wife, Lucy, and a baby girl, Johanna. Judge Turpin also liked Lucy so he had him arrested for a false crime. After 15 years Benjamin returns to London and had his name changed to Sweeney Todd. He returns to his barber shop in Fleet St. which is now a meat pie shop owned by Mrs. Lovett.
She told him that Lucy died poisoning herself and his daughter was taken by Judge Turpin. Upon hearing this Mr. Todd swore to have his revenge on the judge. Everyone who comes for a shave in his barber shop he kills, and Mrs. Lovett uses their meat to make meat pies for the re-opening of her meat shop.
Anthony, a friend of Mr. Todd, sees Johanna in her window and falls in love with her, but upon seeing this Judge Turpin sends her to an asylum because he wanted to marry Johanna himself. Anthony seeks help from Mr. Todd and told him to go there as the wigmaker's apprentice so he can enter the madhouse and free Johanna.
Meanwhile Tobias, Mrs. Lovett's "adopted" son is sent to the bakehouse and teaches him how to make a pie and leaves him there. He asks her if he could have a pie and she said he can eat as many as he likes, but when he was eating his pie he found a human finger in it and discovered that the pies were made out of human meat. He hides in the sewers so Todd and Lovett can't find him. Todd goes to the pie shop and sees the beggar woman and realises it is Lucy (his wife). Ms. Lovett kills her. Todd gets angry, Ms Lovett starts to kiss him, and when they reach the oven he pushes her in. Anthony then kills judge Turpin and marries Johanna.
More mistakes in Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd: No! Not Barker. That man is dead. It's Todd, now. Sweeney Todd. And he will have his revenge.
Trivia: During its first month of production in London, Johnny Depp had to take a ten-day leave of absence when his daughter, Lily-Rose, was rushed to a hospital due to a severe illness (which was never disclosed by the media). To accommodate his absence, director Tim Burton filmed scenes that didn't feature Depp's character.
Question: Is there any particular reason why the chorus lyrics were cut from a number of the songs? They used all of the lyrics in the verses, but not the chorus', which I found odd.
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Answer: From what I heard, the chorus songs (known as "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd") were cut due to time and inability to make the chorus work on-screen. Actors were set up to play "ghost narrators" at first, so that indicates that the filmmakers did want to include the songs. They were just not able to find a way to make them work satisfactorily for them. Also, I think (can't verify) I also heard that Stephen Sondheim, the show's original creator and composer/lyricist, agreed that these cuts needed to be made for the film to work.