Johnny Depp on Tonto's New Look

The first look at Johnny Depp as Tonto in Disney's big screen revamp of The Lone Ranger prompted more than a few curious reactions and comments of it being the latest case of Johnny just being Johnny.

But seriously, what's up with Tonto's ghostly black & white warpaint and that, um, dead crow on top of his head?

"I'd actually seen a painting by an artist named Kirby Sattler, and looked at the face of this warrior and thought: That's it," Depp tells Entertainment Weekly.

"The stripes down the face and across the eyes it seemed to me like you could almost see the separate sections of the individual, if you know what I mean."

And about that crow? "It just so happened Sattler had painted a bird flying directly behind the warrior's head. It looked to me like it was sitting on top," said Depp. "I thought: Tonto's got a bird on his head. It's his spirit guide in a way. It's dead to others, but it's not dead to him. It's very much alive."

The Lone Ranger opens May 31, 2013.