"Rules and Regulations"("Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides")
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After nine years and four different movies, it was obvious from the start what our homage to "On Stranger Tides" was going to be. The on-going saga of Erik and Crispie waiting patiently in line to go on an amusement ride still had plenty of potential left. So when I sat down and drew it, I didn't have to think much about it. Why? Well, as foolish as it sounds, this series of illustrations developed its own continuity. It developed a progression to where the story is going (or as Robert McGee would say "a narrative thread where the characters are dictating their actions outside of the author's involvement".) It really was, for lack of a better term, a no-brainer.
But there was a slight problem.
When Tony and I drew "Prince of Persia" the previous year, we were under the assumption "Pirates" was a trilogy which had reached its cinematic end. Naturally it felt right we should at least give Erik a breather and approach it as if it was the 'next day' if we were to continue the 'joke'. So that's what we did. However, Hollywood and Johnny Depp had other ideas and shortly before "Prince of Persia" debuted, a "Pirates 4" (and 5 and 6) was announced. The good news was we'd have much more opportunities to milk this joke for all its worth. The bad news was we accidentally 'skipped ahead'.
What? I said it was a slight problem. As in very slight and very nit-picky; not to mention a tad bit off the chain.
Insanity aside, I decided to go back and continue the story to where our duo was left after "At World's End"; trying to stick with as many details from the previous drawings I could. Of course there is the obvious change of Crispie in a pirate outfit. Story wise, the two of them must have passed by the gift shop and Crispie wanted to get more into the experience.
As for the joke itself, I think it's a situation every parent has had when they've taken an over-acting or difficult child some place. No matter how much they try to keep level-headed, eventually voices have to be raised and ultimatiums have to be enforced to regain some order. And Erik had finally reached that point. - Jake