I just heard about this animated film that Ebert is raving about. Get this: an animated film based on the Indian epic, The Ramayana, with songs from 1930s singer Annette Hanshaw.
The Ramayana tells the story of a great betrayal by a husband and his mother on the husband’s wife. It is one of the oldest texts in India, and rife with magic, monkeys and religion. It was made to be a thriller–a very long thriller.
The movie though, is animated.
Here’s the trailer, without the Hanshaw.
The problem: Hanshaw’s estate won’t give Nina Paley, the creator of Sita Sings the Blues, the rights to use the songs, so no distributor will touch it. It can win tons of awards–and it has–check out this site. But it can’t be mass distributed. Update: Here is Nina’s Distribution Plan since Ebert’s article! Click there to find the movie…and where you’ll be able to see it.
I can’t wait to see this film. I wonder if we can get Yukon Film Society folks to bring it up. It seems to be showing at film festivals everywhere….
So, this is another outlet for fantasy writing: cartooning and reinterpreting world epics with lots of fantasy elements. And adding in some historical footage too. It’s remarkable. Listen to this. Here’s a nice mix of 1930s Singing, modern animation, and a world Epic:
There are no limits for fantasy writing. None. Okay, well, copyright….but really, no limits. 😉
Bear Witness 
Hi Jerome. Thanks for commenting on my blog the other day…I do have a certain sadness for never finding a church that’s right for me. Anyway, that’s not why I’m writing. I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the series you recently did on CBC Yukon. I thought it was very good and I hope you and Arnold work on another radio project soon.