A 2008 American independent animated musical written, directed, produced,
and animated by Nina Paley. The film intersperses events from the Ramayana,
light-hearted discussion of historical background by a trio of Indian
shadow puppet narrators, musical interludes voiced with 1920s jazz
recordings by Annette Hanshaw, and scenes from the filmmaker's own life.
The ancient mythological and modern biographical plots are parallel tales,
sharing numerous themes. After a prolonged copyright battle over the
Hanshaw recordings, Paley released the film under a CC-0 public domain
license, waiving all rights to the extent possible under law. The film has
been widely distributed and shown freely online, becoming a landmark case
in copyright reform advocacy.
Animation · Comedy · Musical · Drama
