Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama (ラーマーヤナ ラーマ王子伝説, Rāmāyana: Rāma-Ōji Densetsu) is a 1993 Sanatan Dharma animated film co-produced by Japan and India and produced and directed by Yugo Sako and based on the Indian epic the Ramayana. The film was directed by Koichi Sasaki and Ram Mohan, with music composed by Vanraj Bhatia.
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Dubbing History[]
In 1993, an English dub would be recorded in India at Western Outdoor Studios, using mainly Indian actors who are fluent in English. This version would be very common to find on most home video releases, even more so than the original Hindi version.
In 2001, the film would be distributed in the US by Showcase Entertainment with a whole new dub recorded in Los Angeles. This version was released under the title Prince of Light, and features narration by James Earl Jones, as well as additional music by Alan Howarth. This version was screened in Los Angeles on November 9, 2001. Despite the presence of Jones and a then unknown Bryan Cranston, this dub has since become extremely scarce. No home video releases are known to exist in the US, though it is available in other countries such as Slovakia[1] and Russia.[2] This dub would resurface online during mid-to-late 2024, it is currently available to view on Internet Archive.[3][4]
Cast[]
| Image | Character | Original Actor 
|
Indian Dub
|
Showcase Dub 
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Rama | Arun Govil | Nikhil Kapoor | Bryan Cranston |
|
Sita | Namrata Sawhney | Rael Padamsee | Edie Mirman |
 
|
Ravana | Amrish Puri | Uday Mathan | Tom Wyner |
|
Lakshmana | Shakti Singh | Mishal Varma | Richard Cansino |
|
Hanuman | Dilip Sinha | Noel Godin | Michael Sorich |
|
Dasharatha | Harjeet Walia | Bulbul Mukherjee | Mike Reynolds |
|
Kaikeyi | Namrata Sawney | Madhulika Varma | Mari Devon (credit only) |
|
Bharata | Adarsh Gautam | Rahul Bose | N/A |
|
Manthara | Manju Bhatia | Pearl Padamsee | |
|
Kumbhakarna | Pradeep Shukla | Bhargava Krishna | Simon Prescott |
|
Surpanakha | ¿? | Shagufta Jaffrey | Barbara Goodson |
|
Indrajit | Sandeep Karnik | Easo Vivin Mathew | Kirk Thornton |
|
Sugreeva | Raj Joshi | Denzil Smith | Steve Bulen |
|
Angada | Omi Sharma | Cyrus Broacha | Eddie Frierson |
|
Jambavan | Raj Joshi | ¿? | Jeff Winkless |
|
Prahasta | Sandeep Karnik | ¿? | Steve Bulen |
|
Vibhishana | Ajay Chadda | ¿? | Michael McConnohie |
|
Kumbha | Sandeep Karnik | ¿? | |
|
Nikumbha | Ajay Chadda | ¿? | Jeff Winkless |
|
Malyavan | Pradeep Shukla | ¿? | Mike Reynolds |
|
Tataka | Umrilla Chatterjee | ¿? | Catherine Battistone (credit only) |
|
Maricha | Omi Sharma | ¿? | Eddie Frierson |
|
Vishvamitra | Raj Joshi | ¿? | Tony Pope |
|
Sampatha | ¿? | ¿? | |
|
Jatayu | Rakesh Vidua | ¿? | ¿Michael Forest? |
|
Narrator | Shatrughan Sinha | ¿? | James Earl Jones |
Additional Voices[]
Indian Dub
|
Showcase Dub
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Notes[]
- The songs featured in the first dub were sung in Sanskrit.
- The Prince of Light version has around 39 minutes cut from the runtime.
- Despite Japan's heavy contribution to the film, a Japanese dub was never made.
- The Czech[5], Bulgarian, and Sinhala[6][7] dubs are based on the Prince of Light version. An earlier Czech dub was also made based on the original.
- There may also be a Spanish dub based on the Showcase edit as well. The Spanish VHS release is under the title Warrior Prince, which was one of the alternate titles for that version.[8]
- Although none of the character names were changed in the Prince of Light version, some of the spellings were altered in the credits to reflect how they're pronounced (Rama/Ram, Ravana/Ravan, Lakshmana/Lakshman, etc).
- The dialogue in the Prince of Light version is based off the Indian dub, and features much of the same dialogue in some scenes.
- Characters such as Bharata and Manthara only make brief silent appearances in the Prince of Light version as many of their scenes were removed.
- Despite being listed in the credits, Kaikeyi and Tataka are completely absent from the Showcase edit. This could indicate that their scenes were cut at the last minute.
- James Earl Jones's role as the narrator is not credited in the Showcase edit. His role was confirmed through press releases and articles regarding the film.
- There are a few instances in the Showcase edit where voice audio from the Indian dub is used.
- In scenes where the characters hum or chant, audio is taken from the Indian dub.
- When Dasharatha asks Rama why he bears no grudge against him, Bulbul Mukherjee's voice is used for the character rather than Mike Reynolds.
- Shagufta Jaffrey's voice for Surpanakha is used when she assumes her main form after seeing Sita.
- The Prince of Light dub marks Jeff Winkless' final dubbing role before his retirement and later passing in 2006.
- Despite Tom Wyner redubbing most of Ravana's dialogue in the Prince of Light dub, his evil laugh in the end of the "Take Me For Your Lover" musical sequence is actually Kirk Thornton's for Indrajit later on.
Video Releases[]
| Distributor | Year | Format | Dub | Region | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davay Home Video | 2002 | 
|
Showcase | 2 PAL |
Slovakia | 
|
| Excel Home Videos | Indian | 0 NTSC |
United States |
| ||
| IP Entertaiment | 2004 | Showcase | 2 PAL |
Bulgaria | 
| |
| Excel Home Videos | 2006 | Indian | 0 NTSC |
United States |
| |
| 2008 | ||||||
References[]
- ↑ https://www.niagara.sk/dvd-film/ramayana-legenda-o-princovi-ramovi
- ↑ https://www.store.bg/p6354/princyt-na-svetlinata.html
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/the-prince-of-light
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/ramayana-the-legend-of-prince-rama-2000-full-english-dub-found
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvjLl29rJ34
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bXipzWG30A
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF_3iVWJKU8
- ↑ https://www.todocoleccion.net/cine-peliculas-vhs/l12-vhs-cp-1810-principe-guerrero~x342762628
External Links[]
- Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama at the Internet Movie Database
- Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama at Anime News Network's encyclopedia