Most DVDs available on Amazon or eBay today are re-releases from around 2005 or 2010. However, the Ramayana - The Legend of Prince Rama -1993- DVD (often a rare import from the now-defunct Pioneer Entertainment or early Eros International) contains elements that are missing elsewhere:
Given the rarity and poor quality of the official DVD, most fans now watch the film via: Ramayana - The Legend of Prince Rama -1993- DVD...
The story of how this film came to be is as dramatic as the epic it portrays. In the early 1990s, the Indian government, under the direction of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, sought to create an animated feature that could compete with Disney’s global dominance. They approached the legendary Japanese animator Yugo Sako (known for The Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama) and collaborated with the renowned Tokyo-based studio, Toei Animation. Most DVDs available on Amazon or eBay today
Why Japan? Because in the 1980s and 90s, no one drew action, nature, or divine fury better than the Japanese. The Indo-Japanese co-production brought together the spiritual heart of India with the disciplined technical precision of studios that had produced Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon. However, the film faced immediate political turbulence
Production highlights:
However, the film faced immediate political turbulence. Upon its attempted release in India in 1993, protests erupted. Political groups feared that a Japanese interpretation of a Hindu deity would be disrespectful. Ironically, when the film finally screened, audiences wept. The Japanese animators had, with painstaking research, painted the most accurate Ayodhya and Lanka ever committed to cel animation.