Tim Burton told Helena Bonham Carter he "was a dog"

Speaking in Tara Wood's new four-part untitled documentary series about the 66-year-old director, People magazine reports she said: "He loves dogs. Pepper was his childhood dog. He's always felt at ease with dogs. He said very early on in our relationship that he was a dog, so maybe that's where he came from - dog land."

And discussing his communication style, the 58-year-old actress - who was in a relationship with Tim from 2001 to 2014 - added: "[He is] entirely visual. He doesn't need words - that's why he relates to a dog."

In the series, a number of Tim's creative collaborators reflected on how dogs feature in "all of his creative projects", with film editor Chris Lebenzon talking about the bond the 'Big Eyes' director had with his late Chihuahua Poppy, who he shared with former partner Lisa Marie.

Chris said: "Poppy, he and Lisa Marie picked up on a street in Tokyo. How do you get a dog back from Tokyo? Maybe somebody's purse - I'm not sure. And [Poppy] was always with him."

In 2012, the director admitted his animated movie 'Frankenweenie' - which was adapted from his 1984 short film of the same name - was inspired by his childhood pet.

He told UK Screen: "The film is based on a memory that I had when I was growing up and with my relationship with a dog that I had.

"The great thing about expanding 'Frankenweenie' is that thinking about other things that were personal, like the other kids that I remember and the teachers and the kind of place, so I put a lot of memories of things into the whole."