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[prohibitionprincesses]

Harlem Renaissance

New Orleans, Louisiana

Tiana learned her staunch work ethic from her father, but was vastly luckier than him in timing. James came of age in time to be drafted into the first World War, and tragically didn't live to see his dream take off. Tiana however entered her twenties at the same time as modern America, just in time for the Harlem Renaissance--a relatively good time for a Black entrepreneur to find success. Lottie and Big Daddy were friends with Tiana's family decades before it was cool for rich white folks to frequent Black restaurants, but no one nowadays questions them doing so; since radio helped spread Jazz around the world, the rich and powerful from all backgrounds are now visiting Black establishments (one of endless double-standards of the era). Some of Tiana's more like-minded friends likely left Louisiana in the Great Migration to pursue their career goals in the urban North. But Tiana's creole restaurant was always gong to be right here in New Orleans. It was ironic that Tiana's workaholics nature kept her from enjoying the jazz scene exploding in her own community, and the Roaring Twenties in general; luckily she met Naveen before missing too much of the decade. 

However, Tiana and Naveen may want to rethink their approach to how they go about violating Prohibition at Tiana's Palace... 

AN: I hate how long this took me. I badly wish I had been able to post this at the start of February, not only for Black History Month, but also Mardi Gras. Then again, upon seeing the Google doodle just now, maybe the Leap Year is the perfect time for a piece on "Princess and the Frog!" 

[prohibitionprincesses]

Feibo Girl

For much of China, the phrase “Roaring Twenties” may have a less jovial meaning. While the U.S. is in the middle of its Jazz Age, China is in the middle of its Warlord Era. The end of the Qing Dynasty has seen China is split into waring fractions called cliques, with those living in the country suffering the worst violence. It’s an especially dangerous time to be a woman.

Fortunately, the Fa family lives in Shanghai, where the wars usually aren’t as close, and women’s rights are blossoming. Heavy with Western influence, the neon-lit city is “the cosmopolitan Paris of the East.” It’s an even blend of old and new. Ancient-looking ships sail past modern skyscrapers, and pedestrians push wooden carts next to buses and trollies. [Link] It’s a good thing the women of Shanghai have more opportunities, because the warlords impose high taxes on their people, and ill veteran Fa Zhou can no longer work. His wife brings in some money sewing trendy qipaos, but it’s not enough to cover necessities and the warlord’s taxes. So Mulan takes it upon herself to save her family from financial ruin.

She first tries getting a job at a cabaret called the Lucky Cricket. Her mother and grandmother help give her the makeover needed to transform Mulan into a winking Feibo Girl—a Chinese flapper. Then, hesitantly, Mulan bobs her hair using a long, sharp family heirloom. But despite her best efforts, Mulan’s clumsiness clashes with the cabaret owner’s inability to listen, resulting in a show that entertains everybody for all the wrong reasons. While the patrons laugh wildly and snark that the performer is “on fire,” the literally inflamed owner loudly fires Mulan.

Ashamed, Mulan sits in the family’s garden, deep in thought. Near an opened window, Grandma belts out to American jazz on the radio. Grandma’s dance session is interrupted by an announcement from Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, a political and military leader seeking to reunite China and put an end to the warlords. He is recruiting soldiers for what he calls “the Northern Expedition.” Mulan—athletic, strategic, crafty, and often mistaken for a boy—perks at the announcement.

Since Mulan has already been bobbing her hair and binding her breasts per Western flapper fashion, all she really needs is a fake name. She enlists in the National Revolution Army under the alias “Ping.” Joining her are a tiny dragon sent by her ancestors, and the mascot from the Lucky Cricket. Training with both swords and machine guns, “Ping” initially causes some mayhem (thanks in no small part to pranks from her comrades). But by the time the troop boards the train out to their first battle, Ping is one of the most promising recruits Captain Li Shang has ever seen. Control of the railways is crucial to the warlords’ power, and most battles are fought near tracks. While squeezed onto the train and speeding through the country, the soldiers’ songs about girls worth fighting for are punctuated with harrowing scenes of massacred villages. They pull to a stop at a town that’s been burned to the ground, where Li Shang’s father lies among the dead. This is not the work of just any warlord. This was the infamous “Dog-Meat General,” Zhang Zongchang. A particularly ruthless and incompetent ruler, Zongchang is the most feared of China’s warlords. Mulan’s ingenuity leads to the troop’s first major victory, when she creates an avalanche that buries Dog-Meat’s most important railroad—with most of his troops still onboard. While in the infirmary, Mulan’s true sex is revealed. At first, Shang and the other men don’t know how to feel. But it turns out that a woman may be exactly what they need in their next move against Zongchang. The Dog-Meat General has a harem of 30-50 women, who are assigned numbers because he can’t remember their names. And he forgets their numbers. The guy is just asking for this infiltration. Mulan’s experience at the Lucky Cricket cabaret is now inviable. She drills the men on how to dress and act like attractive ladies, and the operation is soon underway.

Ling, Yao, and Chien Po giggle behind their fans as Zongchang boasts of his supposedly enormous masculinity. Meanwhile, Mulan and Shang quietly move to free the captured Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. Along the way, they rescue another prisoner, from Zongchang’s kitchen; the Dog Meat General’s name has several possible meanings, but he does indeed enjoy certain canine dishes. Mulan saves an energetic pup from the butcher, and names him Little Brother. Though not the brightest pooch in the word, Little Brother sniffs out Sun Yat-Sen’s holding cell.

Back at the harem, it’s time for the next phase of the plan. This requires the drag-queens to take out some guards, which means another distraction is needed. Luckily, the Dog-Meat General also fancies himself a poet. Mushu and the cricket take over the job of distracting him, by claiming to be his new typists.  Cri-Kee hops from ink to paper, taking down what the Dog Meat General dictates, while Mushu observes. The finished poem reads: You tell me to do this,

He tells me to do that. You're all bastards, Go fuck your mother.

"Poem about bastards" by Zhang Zongchang[b]

Instead of applause, this poem is followed by an explosion of fireworks detonating all around his military base. Mulan has finally destroyed Zongchang’s army beyond salvaging. The Dog-Meat General himself is killed by an officer avenging his father; Li Shang blows his smoking pistol with satisfaction. Shang follows Mulan back to Shanghai, where they begin a new life together in a unified China.

AN: This picture came out looking very similar to the design that Jacquelynn Harris gave Mulan in her Disney flapper series. I assume this is because we both based the outfit on Mulan’s matchmaker attire, and her hair on actress Anna May Wong. The background border is clipart.

On the story: In the old version of my Disney flapper series, I set all the stories in the U.S. Someone suggested that I look at non-Western fashion from the era, and I dismissed the idea, ignorantly assuming that the Roaring Twenties only happened in the West. This time around, I decided to check if anything interesting was happening in China in the 1920s…and wow, what a rabbit hole! So many things fit so perfectly with Disney’s version of Mulan, especially with that bizarre Zongchang character. I’d never personally create an Asian villain with “dog meat” in his name, but the Dog-Meat General is one of those “can’t make this sh-t up” historical figures. Of course I took liberties with how the history actually played out, as Disney often does; but all of the personal traits described, from the numbered harem to the literal dog meat to that poem, were real. And yes, he was killed by an officer avenging a relative.  To anyone so inclined, here are a couple of incredible time-capsul videos from China in around this time period.  Up the Wangpoo River to Shanghai (1920s)  A video with sound and color from 1929

[prohibitionprincesses]

You’re Welcome for the Giggle Water 

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.

[prohibitionprincesses]

Bear Cat

Scottish Highlands 

Mary's relationship with her mum is on the rocks.

Merida "Mary" DunBroch lives in the Scottish highlands, with her parents and devil triplet brothers. Fergus DunBroch is comfortably retired, supporting his family off pay as a national hero for losing his leg in the Great War. Neither filthy rich nor starving, the DunBroch family is one of Scotland's middle class. But unlike America's, the Scottish Twenties aren't roaring. The economy is experience another decline, leading to another wave of emigration.

 Which means limited marriage options for Fergus and Elinor's daughter. As a woman, Mary's career options are already also limited. So naturally, Ellie DunBroch is very concerned about her daughter's education and upbringing, desperate to give Mary all the opportunities available to a young woman in 1920s Britain. But Mary, being the bear cat flapper that she is, couldn't care less about college or courtship.

Ellie doesn't especially mind her daughter's athletic hobbies. It's not unusual in the 1920s for a girl to enjoy archery, horseback riding or camping. Ellie will even tolerate her daughter's loose, disheveled fashion and heavy dollish makeup, both considered unladylike in Ellie's Edwardian generation. It's simply Merida's devotion to her fun hobbies, and dismissal of college or husbands, that has Ellie worried. The DunBroch matriarch eventually sets a deadline, saying that Mary must have either a fiancé or a college picked out by her sixteenth birthday. Determined to change her mother's mind, Mary buys some moonshine from an old brewer who may or may not have a valid license under Scotland's complex alcohol laws of the Twenties. Unfortunately, the booze doesn't lighten her mother up, so much as turn her into a bear. Or maybe Mary herself is just seeing things after sneaking a few sips on her way back home to deliver the gift for Mom.

It of course all works out in the end. For the rest of the decade, at least.

AN: Two figures inspired this 1920s look for Merida.

One is Panama Smith (Gladys George) from the movie "The Roaring Twenties" (1939). The arrow dress, specifically, is worn by Panama in her very first scene. It’s as cheesy as you’d expect an old movie to be, but if you like the 1920s, Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Cagney or vintage women being badasses, I highly recommend it.

The other inspiration was a real girl named Dot King. Dorothy "Dot" King was an upcoming Broadway starlet who was tragically found murdered in an apartment, suspiciously in a building owned by landlord and gangster Arnold Rothstein. The character Billie Kent of "Boardwalk Empire" is based on her. On the subject of "Boardwalk Empire," Kelly Macdonald, who stared as the female lead Margaret Schroeder on that show, also voiced Merida in the movie "Brave"! The drawing style for this 2D take on Merida was heavily inspired by a gorgeous animated movie called "The Secret of Kells." It's essentially the Celtic answer to "The Thief and the Cobbler." If you're a fan of animation, you must check it out!

[prohibitionprincesses]

Swanky Andalasian

Manhattan, New York 

Stepping onto Ellis Island in the spring of 1920, Giselle Singer is one of the last "picture brides" to arrive in America. 

She has never met her fiancé Edward, but both knew they were soul mates when they saw each other's grainy, black-and-white photos. Six months ago, Edward Lancer put an ad in Andalasian papers, advertising himself as an upstanding Andalasian American seeking a young, beautiful Andalasian wife apt at housekeeping, with singing and woodland critter befriending as a bonus, and offered to pay said wife's passage to America in exchange for her hand in marriage. This practice, though big in the 1800s, has been dwindling. But Andalasia is still a very traditional country, that does courtship the old fashioned way. Unfortunately, Edward's meddling stepmother (who hopes to prevent her stepson from siring a family, so she can have a larger stab at her late husband's inheritance) makes sure that both Edward and Giselle receive different times and places to meet in New York. Hopelessly lost in every sense of the word, Giselle bumbles about Manhattan until she runs into Robert Phillip, a widowed bootlegger who has taken to rum-running to support himself and his young daughter Morgan. He takes pity on Giselle, and in any case, could use some help with the house and his daughter. Giselle cuts fashionable clothing for herself from Robert's curtains, and breaks into musical numbers that Robert fears may bring the coppers down on his business. As she gets to know America and Robert, Giselle becomes familiar with dating, which as of the Roaring Twenties, has replaced courtship in this part of the world. Things become complicated when Edward finally turns up, Narissa puts a hit out on Giselle, and Robert remembers that he has a fiance. AN: Giselle's dress already has a fairly 1920s look to it, so not much had to be changed. Giselle's look here was largely inspired by Margaret Schroeder in the early seasons of "Boardwalk Empire." The background is clipart.

[prohibitionprincesses]

The Green Fairy

Location: A bottle of liquid pixie dust

Liquor is not the only illegal substance making the Twenties roar, as John Darling is going to find out. 

John emerged from the Great War with one less leg, and some nasty shell shock. After a few years of slow recovery, he begins to miss the imagination he once had in childhood. While visiting with his bohemian younger brother Michael, now an artist living in Paris, John gets a taste of Europe's Roaring Twenties. Paris in particular has seen America's speakeasies and moonshine, and said, "Hold moi wine." John has had a problem with alcohol since the War, but Michael and his artsy friends encourage John to try something new, and meet someone new. She is very popular in 1920s Paris, although Michael actually met her in Spain through a writer friend named Ernest Hemingway. The French call her La Fee Verte, "the Green Fairy." The drink tastes like horrible licorice, but John's used to pouring all kinds of foul things down his gullet, so no problem there. After what feels like an eternity, John is about to give up on meeting this Green Fairy, when suddenly, he sees a familiar pixie pounding on the inside of the bottle, just like she did years ago when she was trapped in a lantern. John quickly lets her out by pouring her into his newly empty glass, and then he and the whole crew return to Neverland. AN: I know, I know, 4/20 is supposed to be a holiday for something else. And I know too that absinthe supposedly does not actually cause hallucinations. But I barely ever party in real life, I'll probably never try absinthe, and I am definitely not celebrating a proper 4/20 any time soon. So just let me have this. I actually learned about the Green Fairy in a Victorian Children's Literature class in college, where we also read "Peter Pan" (though I don't think J.M. Barrie was mentioned by my teacher as a user. Oscar Wilde certainly was, though.) Tinker Bell's look here is influenced by Daisy Buchanan from the 2013 adaptation of "the Great Gatsby." And funny enough, Daisy's maiden name is Fay!

[prohibitionprincesses]

City Flower

Harlem, New York 

Tzipporah Shepherd ventures out of Harlem to attend the much talked-about opening party of a speakeasy in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, called the Sphinx. 

Of course the party and club are Ancient Egypt themed; ever since they cracked opened Tut's tomb in 1922, the entire Western world has been Egypt-happy. Everything from the Art Deco motif of the Roaring Twenties to the flapper's look now has a heavy dose of the Nile. For those of African heritage like Zip, it's a matter of personal pride. Zip's father Preacher Shepherd--the son of a Black sharecropper who moved North, and a Druze woman who immigrated during the previous century--claims a spectrum of African and Arab heritage, from the Cushites to the Midianites. So when Zip does herself up tonight, she goes for a bit of everything. Unfortunately she does not have a swell time. The two gangsters who own the Sphinx waste no time harassing her with racist misogyny, inspired by the Jezebel stereotype and helped along by the fact that it's not the 1960s yet. She gets into a tug-of-war with one of them over her necklace, and he "lets her go" into a fountain of whiskey. Thoroughly outraged, storms out of the club. Of course just outside are two white cops, who she has to sneak past while literally drenched in liquor. "Officers!" She looks across the street and sees one of the thugs from the bar, staring stupidly between her and the coppers. He finishes... "There's....a drink spilled on the sidewalk over here...smells like whiskey!" Stunned at this favor, Zip hurries away from the distracted cops too quickly to say thanks. A few weeks later, guess who turns up in her neighborhood on the run from the law. His name is Moshe Levi, and he's just killed a white police officer (by accident), while trying to stop him beating an elderly Colored man. Moshe's presence in Harlem is not that conspicuous; not all of the white residents moved out when African Americans began moving in, and whites from elsewhere frequent Harlem for the music. Zip and Mo's eventually marriage, of course, does raise eyebrows. But since they're in the North, it's legal. They end up moving to Manhattan, where Mo reconnects with his estranged family, faith and heritage. The whole clan sticks to a journey to a Promised Land of equality, even knowing it will take several decades to get there. AN: Tzipporah's ethnicity is a matter of debate, with the Bible describing her as both Midianite (a people from the northern Arabian desert) and Cushite (from the Horn of Africa). I also wanted 1920s "Zip" to be Druze (a religious group who believe they are descended from Jethro, Tzipporah's father); but doing more research this time around, I learned that by 1920, a Druze who wasn't fully Arab would be unlikely. The movie clearly says Midian, but portrays the Midians as darker-skinned than the Egyptians, with dreadlocks. African-American felt more topical for the Roaring Twenties, so I ultimately went with that. There was of course plenty going on in Egypt and the Middle East in the '20s, but I'll be touching on that with other characters. The Harlem Renaissance, likewise, will be covered with Tiana.

[prohibitionprincesses]

Deliver Us 

The Bronx, New York 

Those who don't know her very well tend to assume that Miriam Levi must be another one of those Temperance zealots, given that she's a female champion for social justice yet also very religious. They would be wrong. 

It’s true that in the 1920s, the most dedicated Prohibitionists tend to be female and devout Protestants; but Catholics and Jews still use sacramental wine--legally. Along with "medical" alcohol (yes, really), religious wineries are now among the only legal producers of liquor in the United States. Naturally, this loophole is exploited by bootleggers, such as Miriam and Aaron's black sheep brother Moshe, a high ranking member of the Jewish Mafia. While Mo kills and cuts deals with Irish and Italian gangsters, Miriam and Aaron are trying to work their way out of poverty honestly. They were born to immigrants in the Bronx, and hope to join the wave of second-generation Jews who are moving to different parts of the Big Apple and into the middle class. If Miri and Aaron really get lucky and save enough money, they may even get to visit their own little Promise Land, up in the Borscht Belt. Mo and his croonies already live a lavish Roaring Twenties life in Manhattan, bought on booze and what Miri calls "blood money." Aaron has given up on him; Mirim continues trying to reach Mo, but he'll have none of it. Mo also indulges in the casual racism of the era, and won't join Miriam on the ahead-of-one's-time wagon.   Until one day when, seemingly out of the blue, Mo changes. He goes from sharing drinks with a corrupt cop to accidentally killing the officer, when the latter begins savagely beating an elderly Colored man on the Manhattan Bridge, and Mo intervenes. Mo flees New York, and his siblings don't see or hear of him for a couple years. Miri's spirituality takes another blow in 1925 from the famous Monkey Trial; the idea of faith and science coexisting is still a relatively new concept. However, Miriam's her faith gets a boost when their estranged brother finally Moshe returns to New York, now a philanthropist and police informant married to an African American woman. With some (legitimate) social connections through Mo, Miri and Aaron get better paying jobs, and the following spring the entire family is celebrating Passover in the Catskills. A fellow vacationer comments, "So you three siblings are Miriam, Aaron and Moshe, and Mo's married to a woman named Tzipporah? Did you all plan that, or did that just happen by mistake?" "Yeah that was weird, wasn't it." AN: This was a tricky A.U. to cook up. I didn't want to re-write the tale of Passover in the Roaring Twenties, though that would admittedly make a pretty awesome stage musical. I also didn't know what to do about the character's background, since no one religion has a copyright on Exodus, and ethnic groups involved don't cleanly fit into any modern ones. I ultimately went with Jewish immigrants, since it fit closely enough with the characters' arcs in the story (poverty and oppression; one odd Jew out living a corrupt decadent career; hypocritical racism, deliverance, and a sunny Promise Land not too far away.) And Jews do have an entire holiday revolving around the story. The outfit: I really love the first version of this picture, but it's just not 1920s. It's a great 1930s or '40s Miriam, though. The new dress I gave Miriam this time around is based on day dresses and tea dresses, with low ruffled skirts. Her overall look is inspired by Margaret Shroeder from "Boardwalk Empire." Of course, with 1920s makeup being so Egypt inspired, Miriam already has a very '20s look to her face. The background was horrifying to make. You might think that simplistic clipart of stylized Seder plates and Gatsby-styled line work would be easy to find. You'd be wrong. I had to build this entire background from clipart and shape tools, and it only looks decent from afar. Abstraction is not my area.

UPDATE: I have tweaked some details. 

[prohibitionprincesses]

The Great Gatsby: A Family Film by Dingo Pictures

Location: Hell

And so it was that in the year of Nineteen-Thirty-Eleven, that President Lincoln passed the Volgaboat Act, outlawing the proscrip--production--of all liquorish! Drinking was against the law! All of the water fountains, soda machines, and lemonade stands were chopped to bits by the laughing monkey police. 

"Oh noooooo" two nuns screamed as their lemonade stand was mutilated, "Our business is ruined! How the damn hell will we feed our families? Our children will surely starve to death now! CHILD MURDERER! CHILD MURDERER!" 

The monkey cops and the dinosaur chief of police laughed silently while sha-- while bobbing thier heads. Then everyone went to the speakeasy (which was a log cabin in a sunny pixilated forest) to dance the Charleston to errotic techno music that sounded like the soundtrack for a modern adult film. They conversed loudly and repetitively about mundane sh*t, while quickly muttering important plot points that the audience might actually need to hear. Then I continued telling my story, with my legs spread succulously. I was, and remain, an irrisistable se-duck-tress. You remember how Alvin Capone took over the city of New York with a bomb, putting the city into fear and horror. And then he made war. Against his enemy gangster Jimmy. Hoffa... in... Las Vegas.  His army of dom-ducks arrived in a crust--in a cluster, before Jimmy Hoffa's cabin, armed with baseball bats and whips. "Cough up the giggly-water, ya dirty (LANGUAGE CENSORED TO AVOID R-RATING)." Jimmy Hoffa cried out, "The booze! My god! I'd forgotten them completely!" "Those booze are rightfully belong my sugar-daddy Al Capone!" Lucy the kitten moll proclaimed! Lucy's lover for Tuesdays gasped. "Your suggar dady, Al Capone, is your sugar daddy?" To which Lucy the cat replied, "Shut up Dun-deee." Capone laughed to himself, as he drank the last of Hoffa's moonshine. "Most of the gangsters are shoooo shtuuuupid..." A scene-interrupting bear interrupted the scene, and put an end to Procrib--Pro--Probibibition-- .... .....A scene-interrupting bear interrupted the scene and put an end to the Roaring Thirties, with the bomb that Capone forgot in his struggle-buggy. KA-BOOOOOM! Have a fun and  save April Fool’s Day everyone. 

[prohibitionprincesses]

A Cauldron Full of Hooch

Oshkosh, Wisconsin 

The short version: 

Ellie Llyr has a perfume bottle full of whiskey, and a cauldron full of the finest moonshine coming up! 

The longer version: 

Sixteen-year-old Tarry Bacon is an unmotivated dewdropper. His idea of "work" is abusing the animals on his cross-dressing grandfather's farm, and moping about what a tough gangster he'd be if given the chance. One gray afternoon, while fancying himself a jazz percussionist, Tarry goes at the poor goat's horns with a stick like a musical triangle, resulting in some chaos in the pen. Gramps decides it's time for Tarry to get a job, and offers the boy a nickel to deliver some product to a client downtown. The owner of a speakeasy called The Horned King has ordered some of Grandpa's home-brewed gin, and will add it to the bar's signature mix drink, "the Black Cauldron." Tarry brings the pig and an egg carton, so if any coppers ask, he's just going to the farmer's market. It's a perfect disguise, and that makes Tarry feel confident and important. Unfortunately, when Tarry gets excited, he has a peculiar habit of loudly describing his surroundings or situation, to no one in particular. "Isn't it incredible, Hen Wen, that the production and sale--but not consumption--of alcohol is now illegal in the United States, under the Volstead Act, passed in 1920? To think think that Grandpa must now brew his liquor secretly--illegally!--in his shed, with a still made from objects sold at regular grocery and hardware stores, which ferments a mash from the corn, beets and potato peels grown right on our family farm! Oh, but how wretched that bathtub gin tastes--all watered down with water from the bathtub faucet! I can't believe I must now transport this hooch in my clunky boots, so earning my profession the name of 'bootlegger.' Of course, all if it wouldn't fit in my boots, so Grandpa had to hide some more moonshine in these drained egg-shells. That is, if you can call it 'moonshine.' More like 40% moonshine, 80% shoeshine! It's a good thing, Hen Wen, that he has you taste all his giggle-water before selling it; if it doesn't kill the pig, it's probably safe for the people. Oh, but I'll be the best rum-runner in Wisconsin, by end of tonight! Oh thank you, thank you all! But I couldn't have done it without my loyal steed Hen We-- "Say now, why can't I move my wrists apart from each other? Oh, bother, I'm being arrested! Dash it all." Tarry finishes his soliloquy in the back of a police car, next to his hoof-cuffed pig. Come sundown, Tarry is moping in his jail cell, when suddenly one of the tiles in the floor loosens. A teenage girl around his age climbs out, a gold perfume bottle clinking on a chain around her neck. She introduces herself as Ellie Llyr, a high-born heiress (well, her parents own a telephone). She got arrested during a speakeasy raid. Although Tarry is not the prestigious college boy or soldier she was hoping to find, she wistfully invites him and his pig to join in on her jailbreak. Tarry jumps to the opportunity, but soon realizes that this is one strange tomato. Ellie has no second thoughts about breaking out of a jail cell, and climbing past cutthroat gangsters and prison guards, in the dead of night; but when they come across some rats, she's screaming like a damsel in distress. The fact that her Bauble's Magic Glow bottle contains whiskey, rather than perfume, might explain a bit. On their way out of the jailhouse, the pair pick up an old banjo player arrested for public drunkenness; a thirsty dog that keeps trying to get into Ellie's "Bauble" and Tarry's boots; and a Thompson automatic that Tarry steals from the evidence room, to aid his fragile masculinity. Together, the fellowship sets out into the gloomy streets of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The aptly nicknamed "Sawdust City" is as much a desolate cluster of gin joints in the 1920s as it will be one century later. The group's first stop is a gnarled old garden shop called Morva's. The Morva sisters serve a variety of drinks in the back greenhouse, and offer the gang a wide menu of magical concoctions. Like Tarry's grandpa, they brew booze from  their crop, but have more ingredients to use, including fruit and corn. Using a garden hose to water the stuff down rather than bathtub water may also give it a different taste, for better or worse. After a few drinks with the shop's lecherous owners, the banjo man begins to feel violated, so the friends leave for another speakeasy. Two days and dozens of speakeasies later, none of them can fully recall what they're running from or why. All they know is that they must reach the Horned King. They end up at the Fair Folk's Den, a Drag Ball bar set up in a quarry. The Fair Folk have a safer and better-tasting menu, since theirs is made professionally; for, even during Prohibition, it is still legal to sell alcohol as "medicine" (for special prescribed cases). Eddie and Dahli, the two "fairies" who own run the club, get their distilled spirits by forging prescriptions. Eddie and Dahli are able to direct Ellie, Tarry, and their companions to the Horned King. By the time the whiskey-weary travelers reach the spooky old hotel, the entire town of Oshkosh looks like some kind of horror movie set. Ellie's Bauble's Magic Glow actually is glowing, and flying; and Tarry could swear to god that god-damned dog is trying to speak English. The Horned King is in the hotel's basement. To sober eyes, the owner striding forward to greet them would look like a middle-aged woman in a maroon evening gown, with black fur trim and an elaborate feathered headband. To our inebriated heroes, she appears in the form of Maleficent and Chernabog's demonic love child. Her hen-pecked husband, who currently appears as a hunch-backed goblin, pays Tarry two dollars and quickly relieves him of Grandpa's bathtub gin. The imp sets to work mixing the Horned King's famous drink, while the wife entertains their new guests with small-talk. "Goodness," Ellie says politely, "I've never seen eye shadow that could make one's eyes glow so demonically red!" "Goodness ain't got nothin' ta do with it, Sweetheart," the demon drawls while filing her talon-like nails. "Listen honeys, our Black Cauldron ain't a drink for the feint of heart. The secret ingredient--well, let's just say old Oscar Wilde enjoyed a bit at the Cheshire Cheese, back in the Gay Nineties, know what I mean?" Her goblin husband finally sets a large, bubbling cauldron on the counter, and prepares five straws. His wife issues a final warning to our heroes: "People are known to have some wicked-bad trips on the Black Cauldron. I'm talking skeleton armies, the winds of Hell, all that spooky jazz. "So, who's first?" The dog bravely volunteers, and does a swan dive right into the Cauldron. The night goes downhill from there.

AN: I debated whether to dress Eilonwy in flapper fashion or not. With her entire canon look being so bland, it was important to keep the sleeves and dress pattern, as they're about the only way to recognize her. I decided that Eilonwy isn't too concerned with dressing up; she just wants to have a fun time. Her dress was inspired by images of long-sleeved day dresses from the era. Understand that I do not hate Oshkosh, Wisconsin, or "the Black Cauldron." I lived in Oshkosh for four years, and have watched "the Black Cauldron" maybe four times in my life. Oshkosh is an acceptable place for an introvert to lie low, while saving up for a real home somewhere; and "Black Cauldron" is a decent enough storm of Disney cliches--albeit watered down like bathtub gin, to an almost impressively bland concoction--to kill 90 minutes. But good grief, does that film have a lot of redundant dialogue. And no offense meant with the gay bar. It was just... too easy. And a perfect way to get in some more trivia about 1920s alcohol culture.  

[prohibitionprincesses]

The Password is: Bob 

Puget Sound region, Washington State 

Akima Kunimoto fights every day for the right to call America her home. 

Her family was part of the wave of Japanese immigrants to America's West Coast around the turn of the century. She grew up surrounded by anti-Japanese bigotry (yes, even before WWII), caused largely by resentment over how quickly Japanese American farms and businesses flourished. She's lucky her family got here got here before the Immigration Act of 1924, which severely limits immigration from any non-Western country, but especially singles out Japan. Opportunities can be scarce for an unmarried Japanese American woman. So like many poor immigrants, Akima makes ends meet as a bootlegger. Female bootleggers are particularly useful in the business, as women arouse less suspicion, and the coppers are less likely to stop any vehicle with a lady onboard. Akima is welcomed aboard the S.S. Valkyrie, a tugboat that smuggles booze from Canada to Seattle, across the Puget Sound. 

The tugboat's captain, Joe Korso, is an Italian American. He and Akima are in a similar boat (har, har). All immigrants, even white ones, endure endless mudslinging in this time period. On top of that, before the Volstead Act, many if not most of the people producing and selling alcohol in the U.S. were immigrants (often coming from countries with more laid-back attitudes towards drinking). The 18th Amendment screwed a lot of family businesses, including Korso's. For that same reason, the Temperance movement is crawling with anti-immigration sentiments. But Korso will be damned if he’s gonna give up the family beeswax. He and Akima are cunning and ruthless in their rum-running business. The rest of the crew are not quite as marginalized as the two immigrants, but still count as misfits: quirky scientist Goon, butch repair-woman Stith, and flamboyant one-eared war-vet Preed. The crew gets their product from a small Canadian liquor company called Gaoul Brewery. 

Korso and Akima gain a new shipmate when they rescue Irish-born railroad worker Cale Tucker from a gang of Klansman. The KKK is on the rise during the ‘20s, and after African Americans and Jews, their other favorite targets are immigrants--especially Catholic ones. Cale at first doesn’t believe the Klan would be after him, since he’s fully Americanized, to the point of wrinkling his nose at other immigrants who still speak with accents or cling to “old country” traditions. But after the Klansmen blast apart a speakeasy trying to murder him, Cale is convinced. Akima eventually gets Cale to overcome his self-hatred, and sympathize with their cause.

Both Akima and Cale are outraged to discover that Korso has secretly become an FBI informant, and is planning to throw them under the bus in exchange for a shorter sentence and some cash. A shootout ensues; Goon and Stith survive a bomb, Korso snaps Preed's neck before eating some bullets himself, and Akima and Cale escape both death and justice. They transform the Valkyrie into a floating speakeasy, that welcomes everyone except the fuzz. The password to get in is: “Bob.”

AN: I decided to make Akima’s entry about immigrants, since “Titan: A.E.” is a story about human refugees, from all over the globe. Her outfit here was not based on anything in particular, besides general images of 1920s fashion and female bootleggers. 

UPDATE: The picture has been tweaked, to fix some goofy anatomy and color issues. 

[prohibitionprincesses]

Lady of the Law

Portland, Oregon 

The Roaring Twenties has much to offer a free spirit like Kayley McKnight. But like her cousin Belle, Kayley doesn't care about fashion or dancing. Kayley has a very specific career goal in mind for herself. 

She wants to go into law like her father, who died serving his country in the Great War. Following the 19th Amendment in August of 1920, the number of single women now getting hired for paid work is growing rapidly. Unfortunately, this brings the concept of the "Pink Collar Job," or the idea that women should only work certain, "feminine" jobs. So in addition to Susan B. Anthony and her war-hero dad, Kayley is also inspired by Mabel Walker Willebrandt, the female assistant attorney general of the U.S. during the Prohibition Era. Kayley fights tooth and nail to get into law school, and to be taken seriously as a student. Her chance to prove herself comes when her own mother is blackmailed by a thug named Gary Ruber. A disgraced ex-cop turned gangster, Ruber's crimes range from murder to moonshine to moonlighting as a really bad jazz singer. He wants Juliana McKnight to deliver a shipment of exceptionally dangerous liquor to his associates in Portland. The brew he'll have her transporting is so strong that the drinker is liable to start seeing his work ax running and clucking around like a chicken. Ruber unwisely broadcasts his evil plot in song over the radio, and his singing alone is reason enough to put him behind bars.

Kaylee’s investigations take her into Oregon's temperate rain-forest. Here in the wetlands, she finds a small circus troop who can act as witnesses in the case. The troop includes a pair of bickering conjoined twins who fancy themselves musicians, and a blind acrobat named Garret. Garret and the twins agree to help Kayley in her case against Ruber. The investigations take them to a number of bars throughout the wetland towns, which all serve moonshine so strong that swamp trees begin walking and telephone polls are taking off into the sky like helicopters. Somehow, the drunken quartet manage to outwit Ruber, luring him into their sideshow tent, where he finds himself trapped under the backside of a sumo wrestler called “the Ogre.” While trapped under the Ogre’s butt, Ruber confesses all of his crimes to the cops, winning Kayley the case and her law degree.

AN: Kayley's outfit was based on pictures of vintage suit dresses from the 1920s. The background is based on the three-circles symbol seen throughout “Quest for Camelot,” and the window behind Arthur's Round Table.

[prohibitionprincesses]

Putting on the Swan

St. Louis, Missouri 

Odette Swann is a flapper through and through. She is outgoing and flirtatious, loves dressing up, beats the boys and cards, and will not be left out of any secret clubs. While reveling in her new freedoms, Odette is still irritated by the persistent sexist obsessions with women's looks. Sure she likes dolling up, but if all you can say about her is that she has nice gams, she'll box your ear. When her fiance Derek Archer gives the wrong answer to "is beauty all that matters?" that's the final straw. Odette packs her bags and leaves for St. Louis.

She now performs at a ritzy private club called Swan Lake, owned by a wealthy crook named Bart Roth. With her grace and swan-like build, it's only reasonable that her new manager decided to put her in white feathers--now all the rage in the Roaring 20s. Not only do feathers compliment the flapper's over-the-top extravagance, but they're also great props for dancing and flirting. Entertainers in particular are utilizing them in their performances. Elegant headdresses are also exploding in popularity, due to the discovery of King Tut's tomb; every flapper now wants to feel like an Egyptian queen.

While she has no love for her control-freak boss, Odette has come to see her coworkers as family: the permanently plastered rum-runner, Lorenzo "Speed" Trudgealong; flamboyant dance choreographer, Jean-Bob; and the ever vigilant doorman, Sergeant Puffin (still a bit deranged from the Great War). During the day, the group of friends trash-talk Bart and make mischief around the city. But as soon as the moon comes up, Odette must don the feathers for Bart's patrons, and the fellows have to make themselves scarce.  

Derek has been carrying a torch for Odette for the last five years. One night of bar-hopping, Derek and his buddy Brom happen to stagger into a fancy private club called Swan Lake. Some drunken antics somehow lead to the pair being mistaken for two of Al Capone's delivery boys, who are supposed to be bringing an overdue shipment of liquor from Chicago. While Brom stumbles around the ritzy crowd providing comic relief, Derek suddenly freezes when he hears a familiar voice singing his and Odette's old song, Far Longer Than Forever. At first, he doesn't recognize the glamorous blond dripping with white feathers, but soon enough he does. As soon as Odette gets a break, Derek rushes to her makeup room to speak with her, while Brom wanders back outside and gets arrested for public drunkenness.

Odette is pleased to see that Derek has finally caught up to the times, and now sees women as people. She's tired of the stage life, and is more than ready to go back to casual civilian hedonism. The problem is, her contract with Bart is basically for life. And that creep has friends in all kinds of high places. So Derek, Odette, and her pals from the club are begin combing law books for some legal loopholes.

AN: Information on feather fashion is stunningly hard to find on the Internet. Even Wikipedia's page begins with a "problems with this article" box. Anyway, Odette's look here was inspired by various vintage photos of flappers with large feather boas and feather-dresses.

For the rest of March, you can expect mostly non-Disney girls. This is partially because I'm saving so many of the Disney princesses for certain times of the year; but it's also to set up for the April Fool's entry, which will only really work if it's understood that this series includes Disney knock-offs as well as Disney.

[prohibitionprincesses]

Country Doll

Hicktown, Illinois 

No one is happier than Belle LeBeau to see the 19th Amendment ratified in August of 1920. Perhaps her being a staunch suffragist is what makes Gaston Hunt, a ruthless hit man and misogynist, so dead set on subduing her. 

While not a Prohibitionist per se, and certainly a feminist, Belle has little interest, at the moment, in speakeasies or being a flapper. Indeed, she is extremely frustrated to see that most of the new freedoms women have gained are still limited to looks and marriage. Everyone in the small Illinois town Belle and her father live in thinks she's "odd," for her lack of interest in pearls and the Charleston. Belle currently doesn't have a specific career goal. She's open to most anything that allows for lots of reading--teacher, editor, even housewife, provided her husband isn't a pig like Gaston. While her shelf is largely packed with fantastical adventures from the previous century, she's also a fan of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. But she's open to current literature as well. Although Hemingway bores her, she enjoys the works of a new mystery author named Agatha Christie, and that F. Scott Fitzgerald really seems to speak Belle's language when with his commentaries on the shallow society they live in. She enjoys the whimsical "Voyagers of Dr. Doolittle" (1923), and fantasizes about someday having an adventure in a strange place with a crew of things that shouldn't talk but do. She'll jump off the Golden Gate Bridge before opening a Vogue, but she's addicted to a horror magazine called Weird Tales; in particular, a recurring short-story writer named H.P. Lovecraft. Perhaps a bit more sheepishly, Belle also enjoys the risque romance novels of Elinor Glyn, who is one of the first successful authors to aim for a specifically female readership. It is from Glyn that Belle learned that a romantic attraction does not have to begin with a physical one. Although she is not African American, Belle has also read a few of the works coming out of the Harlem Renaissance. Belle is as interested in outside perspectives of the world as she is in human rights. Belle's eccentric father tries to support the two of them as an inventor. Maurice is currently working to invent the "talking picture camera," which will capture film and audio simultaneously, and lead to a revolution in film, one that might render Belle's beloved books obsolete. So far, no luck. AN: Yes, Belle is getting two entries in this series, because she has two outfits that are so iconic. I considered something similar for Cinderella, but dismissed the idea, as her rags would make a bland, unrecognizable outfit, and her pink dress would be redundant, since I'm planning to do Kristina Van Tassel this October. Anyway, Belle's pre-flapper look was inspired a bit by the roommate character in "It" (1927). She came out looking an awful lot like Anita from "101 Dalmatians" as well, though. Gold-dress Belle will be up a bit later. Maybe further into spring, when thinks are looking up more.

The rose is clipart because life is too short.

[prohibitionprincesses]

Mad Truck Fiona

Hollywood, California 

For all the freedoms women have gained in the Roaring Twenties, one of many they still lack is the freedom to have any body type outside of mainstream beauty standards. 

Sure, the corsets are gone, but slim figures are still expected. And since fashion is now looser and shorter, more of women's bodies and their perceived imperfections are on display. Add to that the explosion of movies and magazines, and it has become a really lousy time to be a beefy lady.

Just ask Fiona Faraway. She lives in Hollywood of all places, which is a media center even in the 1920s. On top of that, her father Harold Faraway holds a prominent yet delicate position the Irish-American Mob, where he is wealthy and empowered, but still lives in fear of many higher up the ladder, such as Bugs Moran, Nucky Johnson, and a female crime boss known as "the Fairy Godmother" (dodges tomatoes). Harold and his family have a reputation to uphold. Before 1920, he kept Fiona hidden away in the family mansion, guarded by her dragon of a nanny. When she was allowed out in public, it was with a corset, and every makeup accessory available, to conceal her green skin. (Possibly caused by the cocaine-based medicines her pregnant mother used in the early 1900s.)

But early in 1920, while waiting for the verdict on Women's Suffrage, Fiona Faraway meets Shawn Ogrland: a Scottish rum-runner and moonshiner, who brews ale from onions, and is known to his nonexistent friends as "Shrek." In a million-to-one coincidence, he suffers the same skin condition and ear deformities as her (in his case, it runs in his family). After defeating the corrupt Governor Farquad, Shrek and Fiona are married in a speakeasy called the Giggle Swamp, with the a collection of other eccentric misfits as witnesses. Together, Fiona and Shrek now defy beauty standards, and are happier for it.

They're not alone. Writer Elanor Glyn has a build similar to Fiona's, and is one of the most respected women of the Jazz Age. Glyn has popularized the concept of "it"--that mysterious magic something that draws the opposite sex to you. And according to Glyn, that something does not have to be physical beauty. She is often vague on the subject, but usually "it" boils down to confidence. Of which Fiona now has in abundance.

Harold doesn't like the influence that the Roaring Twenties on his daughter, whose hand he'd promised to the son of a that "Fairy Godmother." He hires a masked killer to do Shrek in, but the hit-man pussies out. Everyone is terrified of the couple--both Shrek "the Ogre" and his wife, Fiona "Mad Truck" Ogrland. Like another "Mad Truck" of Dillinger fame in a decade to follow, Fiona is a dedicated moll who runs her house with a green fist, and will Hulk-slam anyone who speaks out of turn. Harold eventually comes to accept his daughter as a beefy, tough-as-nails, working-class wife of a bootlegger, who wins belching contests at speakeasies and leads the molls of the city in an Amazon brigade.

Fiona and Shrek now run the Giggle Swamp, and are friends with all of the regulars: Shrek’s Missouri-born, motormouth driver, Don Key; his mute, fiery wife and gun moll (and Fiona’s former nanny), Violet; the catty, bisexual Latino hitman, “Boots” (now an ally); Wolfie, the Brooklyn-born cross-dresser; Pete Nocchio, a failure of a conman who likes ladies’ underwear; a trio of blind jazz singers; and a baker’s assistant named Gingi, who is still traumatized from his interrogation with Commissioner Farquad, over alleged moonshine brewing. The Giggle Swamp’s arch competitor is the Poisoned Apple. The rivalry between the two speakeasies fluctuates between “friendly” and “deadly.” 

AN: Fiona's look here was inspired by Elanor Glyn's cameo in "It" (1927), staring Clara Bow. (For a silent film, it does a surprisingly good job at holding your attention. For some reason, acting in the silent era was infinitely more expressive and lively than in the earliest "talkies.") For this update, all I did was touch up the line work, and add the Art Deco "Shrek" logo. 

I'm still mad at myself for missing February (for which I had planned Tiana, for a number of different reasons) as well as most of March. But hopefully the hangover of St. Patty's day still has enough people in enough of an Irish mood for this one. Merida was supposed to be March as well; we'll see.

[prohibitionprincesses]

Just Drawn That Way

Los Angeles, California 

The 1940s seems to be the decade when many famous cartoon characters took on the iconic looks we know them by today: Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Feelix the Cat. 

When Detective Eddie Valiant met Jessica Rabbit, it was 1947. Naturally, Jessica reflected the beauty standards of the '40s femme fatale. But it's a well known fact that Toons can be much older than they look, and as mentioned above, some of them have also changed their looks. Was Jessica "drawn that way" from the get-go, or did she have her own Steamboat Willie phase? Here, we will suppose that Jessica Rabbit is as old as Mickey and Bugs. But unlike her husband's comedic crowd, Jessica doesn't have much of a place on the big screen in the 1920s. This is a time when Toons are expected to be funny, not sexy. Even Betty Boop won't debut until the 1930s. In regards to the idea of an attractive female, Olive Oyl and Minnie Mouse are more parody than pandering (at least for the human audience; no doubt they have male Toon lining up at their doors with marriage proposals). "Rubber hose animation" is the style of the realm, and most of the successful Toons in show-biz have immigrated from the funny papers. In fact, in the book "Who Censored Roger Rabbit," Jessica and her husband were both immigrants from the morning funnies. And we will presume the same is true for the couple in this continuity as well. But where does a sex symbol like Jessica fit into the 1920s? On the cover of Vougue magazine, showing human women the new ludicrous beauty standards to strive for. Contrary to the hourglass figure and full lips she'll adopt for the '40s, '20s-Jessica has the body of a tube noodle, and everything from her figure to her makeup is long and thin. It's particularly important for someone in the entertainment business to look good, as the masses are now, for the firs time, turning to the media for examples of how they should look. And as films are silent in the '20s, looks are currently about all the movie stars, human or Toon, can provide. Once the talkies are invented and Toons literally find their voices, Jessica will finally make her big break. By then, her look will have changed considerably to match the changing desires of her male audience. But she's never bad; she's just always drawn that way. AN: Flapper versions of Jessica Rabbit tend to keep her 1940s look, and that's fine; I recall reading somewhere that nostalgia for the Roaring Twenties resulted in a few throwback '20s themed parties during the Great Depression, and presumably a little later as well. But, I thought it would be interesting to draw Jessica as the 1920s would draw her. I Googled covers of Vogue magazines from the '20s, as well as Art Deco pieces, for references. The film reel behind her is clipart.

[prohibitionprincesses]

Right in the Kisser!

Rural Montana 

Rural dwellers receive only feint echoes of the Roaring Twenties deafening the urban cities. In a cottage on the outskirts of a small town in Montana, Rose Forrester lives an isolated teenage-hood filled with berries, and devoid of dates (d-d-chhh!). Her three aunts, Flo, Fanny and Mae, run a dress shop on the edge of town. 

Rose's aunts seem stuck in their Edwardian ways. They won't let her bob her hair or wear makeup, and keep coming up with excuses for why the family can never travel anywhere interesting. Rose finds it a bit hypocritical that they won't let her enjoy the new decade, since they're obsessively on top of the vastly changing fashion trends of the decade. They're all about that new portable electric sewing machine, which propels their business like magic, and the first to order all of the elegant new fabrics now available. Flo and Mae are warring over dress colors, while Fanny is figuring out that you can't use the portable sewing machine while transporting it. 

As her sixteenth birthday draws near, Rose demands some more agency, and some honesty from her aunts, who are clearly hiding something. Her aunts cave, and tell her the truth. She is not really named Rose Forrester, and they are not really her aunts. Her real name is Aurora Hale. Faun, Flo and Mae are F.B.I. agents, assigned to protect Rose from her father's many enemies. Specifically, a female crime boss named Mel Blackhorn. Rose's father, a judge named Stefan Hale, convicted Mel of a number of violent crimes, ranging from murder to public profanity. Unfortunately, he was unable to get all of Mel's criminal connections arrested along with her, which meant that she could possibly make good on her threats to his family. Stefan and his wife Leah arranged for their daughter Aurora to be raised in Witness Protection. Rose is set to be reunited with her parents on her 16th birthhday.  Rose then makes her own confession; she's been seeing a boy. Phil Kissenger (just...go with it) is two years older than Rose, and has just begun his freshmen year at the elite collage a few miles away.

Her aunts decide to finally let her "grow up" a bit, and give Phil their blessing to take Rose out on a tame date. They take Rose out to get her hair bobbed, and help her with her make-up. They even use that magical machine to make her a new trendy, but conservative, evening gown. (War still rages between Flo and Mae over pink or blue.) Distraught by his son's choice to date a "rube," Hubert Kissinger drowns his sorrows at a speakeasy called Skumps, with another man who is lamenting that he hasn't seen his daughter in 16 years. While the kids dance and their fathers get skumps, Mel is already plotting their downfall with the corrupt police pigs she's paid off. She has one uniformed swine slip Rose a very sinister "Mickey" while she and Phil are at a nice restaurant. It's a complex chemical composition that will cause a coma, and eventual death, as soon as Rose's blood to make contact with the air. A tiny prick on the finger would do the trick. Rose feels a bit strange by the end of dinner, but chalks it up to the champagne. Phil's already shown her his school's horse ranch, so she figures after dinner, they can swing by her house and she can show him how she helps her aunts with that sewing machine... AN: This was one of the handful I felt I had to re-draw. If you're wondering why, here's the original: 

Aurora's gown was mostly inspired by "Downton Abbey." I'm not super familiar with the show, but I believe the one who inspired this the most was the girl played by Lily James--who, interestingly, starred in the 2015 live action remake of Disney's "Cinderella," along with another actress on that show. Anyway, the shoes here were heavily inspired by this incredible artist's Disney princess shoe series: 

The background was a NIGHTMARE. "Sleeping Beauty" has such a gorgeous art style, that is very Art Deco (of course, Art Deco borrows heavily from classical styles like the Byzantine one the movie is based on). It felt wrong not to include that in Aurora's background. Screenshots didn't work, and using the official concept artwork (incredible on its own!) felt like stealing. So I tried to mimic the style as best I could.

And now, some interesting news for "Sleeping Beauty" fans. If you're a fan of Disney, and especially this movie, you may have already heard about this cute and impressive marriage proposal. If not, check it out!

 www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1TZWz…