Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama is a 1993 anime film co-produced by Japan and India; produced and directed by Yugo Sako.

Moving on, they find Hanuman and Sugriva, the king of Kishkindha who leads an army of forest dwelling people called Vanaras, and seek their help.

Soon thereafter, a protest letter based on the misunderstanding from the Vishva Hindu Parishad was received by the Japanese Embassy in Delhi, which said that no foreigners could arbitrarily cinematize Ramayana because it was the great national heritage of India.

The Government agreed initially, but later declined his proposal for a bi-nation collaboration, saying the Ramayana is a very sensitive subject and cannot be portrayed as a cartoon.

The fact that the movie was being made at the height of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, which culminated in the destruction of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, further axed its chances of an Indian release.

[5] With no choice and support left, the movie was decided to raise all production funds in Japan and to produce with artists from both nations.

MishraThe original English version with Sanskrit songs was worked on by teams from both countries and was screened for the first time at 24th International Film Festival of India, New Delhi, 10–20 January 1993.

[11][12] The film was not theatrically released on a large scale as the Ram Janmabhoomi (Birthplace) Movement was at its peak and the movie embroiled in controversy.

[22][better source needed] The tour began with a Retrospective event by Graphiti Animation for the late Ram Mohan in association with Films Division in Mumbai on February 11, 2020,[23][better source needed] and continued until February 26, with talks and exchanges in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Palanpur, Nagpur, Bengaluru, Chennai and New Delhi.

[23][24][better source needed] In December 2021, an official website was launched with an announcement that a digitally remastered version will be released.

[26][27] Special screenings for the 4K Ultra HD remaster were conducted in various countries: On September 19, new Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu versions were released by Geek Pictures, with V. Vijayendra Prasad as creative director.

[6][4] This version was released in a further localized English dub with narration by James Earl Jones, prince Rama voiced by Bryan Cranston, additional music by Alan Howarth and the runtime being shortened to 90 minutes.

He described the film as a "curious fusion of an interesting if simplified literary adaptation with emphatically second-rate animation technique" and said "the blatantly American vocal casting and direction are painfully out of kilter with the 5,000-year-old Indian setting".