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Description
Samoan Islands, 1915.

While the Great War rages miles away, the sun shines on the island home of two-year-old Moana Montunui. While rescuing a baby turtle from vultures, the toddler happens upon an eye-catching trinket in the water: a round sort of ornament, carved with tribal patterns, painted with glowing green radium . Little Mo's father, Chief Tui, dismisses it as uselsess debris. But his mother Tala instantly recognizes the trinket for what it is. Tala stores the object in her blue seashell locket for safe keeping, planning to give it back to her granddaughter when Mo is old enough not to lose, break or try eating it.

The Late 1920s

Mo is now a 16-year-old flapper, seeking adventure anywhere she can. Because Samoa is not under U.S. rule, the American Volstead Act doens't apply, so Mo can guzzle as much giggle-water at parties that she wants. What she cannot do, without risk of upsetting authorities, is openly voice her desire to for Samoan independence. Because the Great War has left the Samoan Islands under the rule of New Zeeland and the British Military. (Link) Enter the Mau Movement, fighting for Samoan independence. Mo's grandma Tala is one of the movement's most dedicated members, but Tala's son Chief Tui doesn't want any of his family members getting involved with these dangerous demonstrations. He is naturally opposed to his mother constantly filling his daughter's head with tales of their ancestors' free lives.

One of the most fervent methods of protest, outside marching in the streets, is Samoan national music. Naturally, the New Zeeland government bans such music it from radio stations. (Link) If only Mo's people had a radio station of their own--a powerful one, that could reach all of Polynesia, and maybe even New Zeeland. According to Grandma Tala, they had one. Before the Great War, there was a tiny, beautiful island called Te Fiti, where a strange but kind hermit operated her own powerful radio station by the same name, from the island's tallest mountain. Te Fiti's broadcasts reached all across Polynesia, and even hit parts of New Zeeland and Mainland U.S.A. But Te Fiti was decimated in the naval battles of the Great War, and crucial parts of her radio system were scavenged by a war profiteer from Maui. The Hawaiian native and former U.S. naval officer now works as a bootlegger, moonlighting as a singer at Hawaiian speakeasies, where he goes by his stagename "the Rock." He alone can find Te Fiti, and repair her radio. This will allow Te Fiti to resume broadcasting Polynesia's cultures and causes to all who need to hear them. But someone has to find the Rock, and make him get off his tattooed bum.

December 28, 1929

Black Saturday

Mau protesters have a deadly clash with the New Zeeland police. It will come to be known as Black Saturday . In the chaos, a New Zeeland constable is beaten to death. Other policemen fire warning shots into the air, causing their own fellow officers to panic, and start firing into the crowd of marchers. The most famous casualty is a Samoan high chief (not Mo's father), named Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III. But another is Grandma Tala, who is fatally injured by a gunshot wound. On her deathbed, Tala returns the green pendant to Mo, and tells her the truth. This ornament, like the New Zeeland rule they are fighting, is an artifact of the Great War. It is in fact a radio dial, from Te Fiti's station. Mo must venture out into the sea, track down the Rock, and convince him to return what he stole and repair what he broke.

After sneaking out from middle of the night with her mom's permission, Mo sails out to sea. With the ocean on her side, she finds the Rock soon enough. Naturally, the diva and petty crook fancies himself a war hero, and insists that he stole those radio parts in to help provide financial aid for both his and Mo's people. And in all reality, he's not completely in the wrong. But Te Fiti's radio must be repaired, and Te Fiti herself convinced to join their cause, if Polynesians will ever achieve true freedom. Mo blackmails the Rock, with the fact that she can easily telephone the coppers with his name and physical appearance, upon which the Rock has unwisely tattooed all of his illegal expeditions as both a war profiteer and bootlegger. The Rock attempts to silence Mo by locking her up in (snort) a rock, but she escapes, and he begrudgingly accepts her blackmail.

Along the journey, they battle turbulent waters; a powerful, and heavily armed rum-running ship of mobsters transporting coconut wine; and a flamboyant jewel thief determined to get his claws on anything "shinny."

AN: I used to assume that Moana was specifically Hawaiian, and in a sense she is; the Disney movie is a fantasy retelling of how and why the Polynesians from Samoa and Tonga wound up venturing onward to the Hawaiian islands. (Link) In the old version of this AU, I made Moana a Native Hawaiian. But after learning about the Mau Movement--which specifically took off in the 1920s--I decided to leave Hawaii for Nani (from "Lilo & Stitch"), and do something different for Moana.

I apologize for Moana's figure being different here than in canon. At the time I first drew this, I was planning to re-do all of my Disney flappers in the thin and elongated style of 1920s Art Deco figures. But I've since decided that there is no way I'm redrawing all of these from scratch. I tried my best to return Moana to her canon figure, but this was much trickier than it might seem, as I failed to save any version of the original before merging all of the layers. I'm sure I could spend more time and make it perfect, but life is short, this project is big, and well, I'm busy.

Here's the old version:

More Prohibition Princesses
Prohibition Princesses on Tumblr
Prohibition Princesses on Archive of Our Own (relax, it's the clean side of the site)

Description
Samoan Islands, 1915.

While the Great War rages miles away, the sun shines on the island home of two-year-old Moana Montunui. While rescuing a baby turtle from vultures, the toddler happens upon an eye-catching trinket in the water: a round sort of ornament, carved with tribal patterns, painted with glowing green radium . Little Mo's father, Chief Tui, dismisses it as uselsess debris. But his mother Tala instantly recognizes the trinket for what it is. Tala stores the object in her blue seashell locket for safe keeping, planning to give it back to her granddaughter when Mo is old enough not to lose, break or try eating it.

The Late 1920s

Mo is now a 16-year-old flapper, seeking adventure anywhere she can. Because Samoa is not under U.S. rule, the American Volstead Act doens't apply, so Mo can guzzle as much giggle-water at parties that she wants. What she cannot do, without risk of upsetting authorities, is openly voice her desire to for Samoan independence. Because the Great War has left the Samoan Islands under the rule of New Zeeland and the British Military. (Link) Enter the Mau Movement, fighting for Samoan independence. Mo's grandma Tala is one of the movement's most dedicated members, but Tala's son Chief Tui doesn't want any of his family members getting involved with these dangerous demonstrations. He is naturally opposed to his mother constantly filling his daughter's head with tales of their ancestors' free lives.

One of the most fervent methods of protest, outside marching in the streets, is Samoan national music. Naturally, the New Zeeland government bans such music it from radio stations. (Link) If only Mo's people had a radio station of their own--a powerful one, that could reach all of Polynesia, and maybe even New Zeeland. According to Grandma Tala, they had one. Before the Great War, there was a tiny, beautiful island called Te Fiti, where a strange but kind hermit operated her own powerful radio station by the same name, from the island's tallest mountain. Te Fiti's broadcasts reached all across Polynesia, and even hit parts of New Zeeland and Mainland U.S.A. But Te Fiti was decimated in the naval battles of the Great War, and crucial parts of her radio system were scavenged by a war profiteer from Maui. The Hawaiian native and former U.S. naval officer now works as a bootlegger, moonlighting as a singer at Hawaiian speakeasies, where he goes by his stagename "the Rock." He alone can find Te Fiti, and repair her radio. This will allow Te Fiti to resume broadcasting Polynesia's cultures and causes to all who need to hear them. But someone has to find the Rock, and make him get off his tattooed bum.

December 28, 1929

Black Saturday

Mau protesters have a deadly clash with the New Zeeland police. It will come to be known as Black Saturday . In the chaos, a New Zeeland constable is beaten to death. Other policemen fire warning shots into the air, causing their own fellow officers to panic, and start firing into the crowd of marchers. The most famous casualty is a Samoan high chief (not Mo's father), named Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III. But another is Grandma Tala, who is fatally injured by a gunshot wound. On her deathbed, Tala returns the green pendant to Mo, and tells her the truth. This ornament, like the New Zeeland rule they are fighting, is an artifact of the Great War. It is in fact a radio dial, from Te Fiti's station. Mo must venture out into the sea, track down the Rock, and convince him to return what he stole and repair what he broke.

After sneaking out from middle of the night with her mom's permission, Mo sails out to sea. With the ocean on her side, she finds the Rock soon enough. Naturally, the diva and petty crook fancies himself a war hero, and insists that he stole those radio parts in to help provide financial aid for both his and Mo's people. And in all reality, he's not completely in the wrong. But Te Fiti's radio must be repaired, and Te Fiti herself convinced to join their cause, if Polynesians will ever achieve true freedom. Mo blackmails the Rock, with the fact that she can easily telephone the coppers with his name and physical appearance, upon which the Rock has unwisely tattooed all of his illegal expeditions as both a war profiteer and bootlegger. The Rock attempts to silence Mo by locking her up in (snort) a rock, but she escapes, and he begrudgingly accepts her blackmail.

Along the journey, they battle turbulent waters; a powerful, and heavily armed rum-running ship of mobsters transporting coconut wine; and a flamboyant jewel thief determined to get his claws on anything "shinny."

AN: I used to assume that Moana was specifically Hawaiian, and in a sense she is; the Disney movie is a fantasy retelling of how and why the Polynesians from Samoa and Tonga wound up venturing onward to the Hawaiian islands. (Link) In the old version of this AU, I made Moana a Native Hawaiian. But after learning about the Mau Movement--which specifically took off in the 1920s--I decided to leave Hawaii for Nani (from "Lilo & Stitch"), and do something different for Moana.

I apologize for Moana's figure being different here than in canon. At the time I first drew this, I was planning to re-do all of my Disney flappers in the thin and elongated style of 1920s Art Deco figures. But I've since decided that there is no way I'm redrawing all of these from scratch. I tried my best to return Moana to her canon figure, but this was much trickier than it might seem, as I failed to save any version of the original before merging all of the layers. I'm sure I could spend more time and make it perfect, but life is short, this project is big, and well, I'm busy.

Here's the old version:

More Prohibition Princesses
Prohibition Princesses on Tumblr
Prohibition Princesses on Archive of Our Own (relax, it's the clean side of the site)