"That's Mean, Joe" ("Splice")
Although we make light of it, the truth is I really did feel bad whenever Tony or I missed a deadline on a project. The real world got into the way of course and certain things couldn't be avoided. But we always strived that if something is going to appear late, then we should at least try to make it worth the wait. Sometimes we succeed. Other times we didn't. That's just how it works when you have to contend with reality.
However this picture was a different story. The night before "Splicers" premiered in the theaters, I had a rather funny idea. Time was definitely not on my side but I thought for once instead of doing a picture Tony and I planned to do and have it delayed, I was going to do a picture we didn't have scheduled and debut it roughly on time. I knew it'd be impossible to get it done in one setting since it was a pretty elaborate picture relying a very detailed back drop but even if I finished it before the weekend was over, it would still be a huge accomplishment. And I was coasting pretty nicely on it.
That is until I found out the movie was called "Splice"; not "Splicers."
For those of you who read my first paragraph and immediately caught my mistake, I was deliberately making a point. I messed up. Boy, did I mess up. I messed up and what made things worse was the idea I had in mind was perfect for "Splicers"; not remotely in the least for the real title of the film.
Had I been a sane person, I would have just given up and moved forward. Again, it wasn't a movie we even planned to cover and I had already handed Tony my pencils to "The A-Team". There'd be no harm in sticking with the plan and nobody would hold anything against me. But then I realized I mentioned on Facebook to a small group of people that yes, we would be doing a illustration for Adrian Brody's clunker on cinema. Never mind it was such a small amount of people; maybe 3 or 4 at the most: I had made an announcement. And call it selfish but I was already pretty down on myself in the first place. So rather than throw in the towel, I chose to see it through.
What follows is my loving tribute to arguably one of the greatest television commercials ever. I'm sure there may be a few people who are too young to remember it, but that's okay. It's not meant to be cerebral, but what it is meant to be, at least for me personally, is proof that while we had delays, it didn't mean we didn't care. - Jake