Walt Disney Studios signed on with the director for the two-film deal. Production on "Alice" is slated to start in January 2008 with a scheduled completion in May. Richard Zanuck, Joe Roth with Suzanne and Jennifer Todd produce.

Burton's new take on the Lewis Carroll classic will combine the worlds of live-action and the performance-capture animation used in films like "Beowulf" and "The Polar Express." Linda Woolverton (The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast) pens the new script.

The director will then revisit his previous short film "Frankenweenie" — centering on a young boy's re-animation of his dead dog — for a full-length feature. This film will use stop-motion animation (as seen in Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Corpse Bride").

Both movies will be presented in Disney Digital 3-D. Burton's "Nightmare" has already been shown in that format. The deal reunites the one-time animator (who worked on "Fox and the Hound") with his former employer.

"Sweeney Todd" hits theatres nationwide Dec. 21. Johnny Depp stars in the lead with Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Sacha Baron Cohen and more in the cast.