The NeverEnding Story (German: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a 1984 fantasy film based on the German novel of the same name by Michael Ende. The film was directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starred Barret Oliver, Noah Hathaway and Tami Stronach. At the time of its release, it was the most expensive film produced outside of the United States or the USSR.[1]
Plot
Bastian Balthazar Bux (Barret Oliver) is a young boy and a frequent daydreamer, much to the dismay of his father (Gerald McRaney). One day, on the way to school, Bastian is chased by bullies, hides in a bookstore, and interrupts the owner, Mr. Coreander (Thomas Hill) who was reading from a book called "The Neverending Story." Bastian takes interest in the book, but Mr. Coreander warns him it is "not safe;" nevertheless, when Mr. Coreander goes to take a telephone call, Bastian steals the book and races towards school. Bastian then hides in the school's attic, to begin reading "The Neverending Story."
The book describes the fantasy world of Fantasia which is being threatened by a force called "The Nothing" that consumes everything. The creatures of Fantasia have gathered to plead for help from the Empress of Fantasia (Tami Stronach), but she has fallen deathly ill due to the Nothing. She has summoned a young warrior from the Plains People, Atreyu (Noah Hathaway), to help put an end to the Nothing, giving him a magical medallion called the Auryn to use as a guide and a symbol of the Empress. As Atreyu sets off on his quest, the Nothing summons Gmork (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer), a wolf-like creature, to stop and kill Atreyu.
Atreyu heads to the Swamps of Sadness to see the ancient Morla who he believes can help him; while Atreyu is protected by the Auryn, the Swamps take his horse, Artax, forcing Atreyu to continue on foot. When the book describes Morla, an embittered giant turtle, Bastian screams to himself at the horrific description, and continues reading to find that both Atreyu and Morla heard a scream. Morla cannot help Atreyu, but directs him to the Southern Oracle. Atreyu travels there with the help of a luckdragon named Falkor (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer). Two old gnomes named Engywook (Sydney Bromley) and Urgl (Patricia Hayes) tend to Atreyu's injuries, then the gnomes give Atreyu advice for how to pass the gates that guard the Oracle. Atreyu is able to pass the first gate of the Sphinxes' gaze and reaches the Magic Mirror Gate. As Atreyu approaches it, the image of the Gate is shown to reveal a child that matches Bastian's description perfectly. Bastian throws the book away in disbelief, but cautiously begins reading it again, wondering if the people of Fantasia really know him; as it has grown late, for light Bastian has arranged several candles.
As Bastian continues reading, Atreyu passes through the Gate and meets the Oracle. The Oracle tells him that the only way to stop the Nothing is to save the Empress, and for that to occur, she needs to be given a new name by a human child outside the boundaries of Fantasia. As the Nothing approaches and starts to consume the Oracle, Atreyu calls out for Falkor to help him. The two take off to find the boundaries of Fantasia. The two are nearly consumed by the Nothing, causing Atreyu to fall off Falkor's back and into the sea, where he loses the Auryn. When Atreyu awakes, he finds himself on a beach and speaks to the Rock Biter, who tells him that he was unable to save his friends and has failed. Atreyu tells him that no he has failed by not finding a human child. Artreyu then discovers a series of murals in a stone garden that depicts Atreyu's journey so far. He then encounters Gmork, though the wolf being does not recognize Atreyu without the Auryn. Gmork explains that Fantasia has no boundaries because it is humanities' hopes and dreams, but that the Nothing, representing apathy and despair, eats away at it. Gmork further reveals that he was chasing Fantasia's only hope, a boy named Atreyu, but lost him in the Swamps of Sadness. When Atreyu reveals himself to Gmork, the wolf being attacks him, but Atreyu manages to defeat Gmork by using a stone slab. Weak from the injuries and with the Nothing beginning to consume the area, Atreyu nearly gives up hope. Falkor arrives, having found the Auryn, and rescues Atreyu.
The Childlike Empress and Atreyu
Atreyu wakes on Falkor's back to find only pockets of Fantasia remain floating in a void. With the Auryn's guidance, they manage to find the Empress' home, the Ivory Tower, which still stands. They fly towards it, and Atreyu sadly reports his loss to the Empress having failed to find a human child. But the Empress reveals that he in fact succeeded, and explains all the points where Bastian appeared in the story. As Bastian continues reading and realizes the book is talking specifically about him, he realizes that he has a name for the Empress but fears what the outcome might be. As the Nothing begins to consume the Ivory Tower, the Empress pleads for Bastian to say her new name; Bastian races to the attic window and shouts "Moon Child!;" a strong wind blows out the candles in the attic.
Bastian finds himself face to face with the Empress, who reveals that the Nothing has consumed all but one grain of sand from Fantasia. However, she explains, Bastian's wishes and imagination can help to regrow the world. Bastian quickly wishes to see all of Fantasia while riding Falkor; during the flight, he finds all the characters to have been restored, including Atreyu riding happily on Artax. Bastian then whispers one more wish to Falkor. In the real world, the bullies that chased Bastian the previous day suddenly find themselves chased by Bastian and Falkor, and end up falling and hiding in piles of garbage. Bastian and Falkor soar triumphantly off into the sky, a narrator reveals that Bastian had many amazing adventures... but that's another story.
Cast
Teeny Weeny (
Deep Roy) and his racing snail
- Barret Oliver as Bastian Bux, a young boy with a large imagination. He takes the Neverending Story from Mr. Koreander's bookstore and reads it. He is soon revealed to be the key to saving Fantasia.
- Noah Hathaway as Atreyu, a warrior from the Plains People, who along with his horse, Artax, is sent to search for a cure to the Empress' illness. He is protected by the Auryn.
- Tami Stronach as The Childlike Empress, the ruler of Fantasia. The Empress has fallen deathly ill due to the presence of the Nothing.
- Alan Oppenheimer as the voice of Rock Biter, Falkor, Gmork, & Narrator
- Thomas Hill as Mr. Koreander, a librarian whom Bastian meets. He forbids Bastian from taking the Neverending Story, however Bastian disobeyes, leaving a written promise that he will return the book when he's finished.
- Deep Roy as Teeny Weeny, a messenger riding on a racing snail
- Tilo Prückner as Nighthob, a messenger riding a narcoleptic bat.
- Moses Gunn as Cairon, a servant of the Empress who gives Atreyu his quest and the Auryn.
- Sydney Bromley as Engywook, a gnomish scientist and expert on the Southern Oracle.
- Patricia Hayes as Urgl, Engywook's wife and a healer.
- Gerald McRaney as Mr. Bux, Bastian's widowed, workaholic father, who worries about Bastian's inattentive behaviour and frequent daydreaming.
- Darryl Cooksey, Drum Garrett and Nicholas Gilbert as Bullies: Three cruel children who dislike Bastian and throw him in dumpsters. Their pursuits of him lead to his adventures. Bastian eventually takes revenge with the help of Falkor.
Production
This film adaptation only covered the first half of the book. The majority of the movie was filmed in Germany, except for Barret Oliver's scenes, which were shot in Vancouver, BC, Canada. It was Germany's highest budgeted film of the time. The novel's author, Michael Ende, felt that this adaptation's content deviated so far from his book that he requested they either halt production or change the name; when they did neither, he sued them and subsequently lost the case.[3] He did succeed in having his name removed from the opening credits although his name does appear in the closing.[citation needed]
Music
The music for The NeverEnding Story was composed by Klaus Doldinger of the German jazz group Passport. The theme song of the North American release of the film was composed by Giorgio Moroder with lyrics by Keith Forsey, and performed by Limahl, lead singer of Kajagoogoo and Beth Anderson. This song, along with other "techno-pop" treatments to the soundtrack are not present in the German version of the film, which features Doldinger's orchestral score exclusively.
The theme song performed by Limahl was released as a single in 1984, it peaked at #4 on the UK singles chart, #6 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. The American theme song has been covered by The Birthday Massacre, Creamy, Dragonland, Kenji Haga, and New Found Glory. Norwegian synthpop group Echo Image covered the song on their 2001 maxi-single Skulk, and German techno group Scooter covered the song on their 2007 album Jumping All Over the World.
The American rock band Bayside have used quotes from the film as titles of their songs. Examples include "They look like strong hands" and "They're not horses, they're unicorns."
The American rock band Atreyu got their name from the character of Atreyu.
The Official Soundtrack lineup (composed by Klaus Doldinger, with the exception of the theme tune (Limahl));
In 2002, the band Dragonland released a power metal version of the Neverending Story Theme Tune,
| 1. |
"Never Ending Story" |
3:32 |
| 2. |
"Swamps Of Sadness" |
1:57 |
| 3. |
"Ivory Tower" |
3:10 |
| 4. |
"Ruined Landscape" |
3:03 |
| 5. |
"Sleepy Dragon" |
3:59 |
| 6. |
"Bastian's Happy Flight" |
3:16 |
| 7. |
"Fantasia" |
0:56 |
| 8. |
"Atreyu's Quest" |
2:52 |
| 9. |
"Theme Of Sadness" |
2:43 |
| 10. |
"Atreyu Meets Falcor" |
2:31 |
| 11. |
"Mirrorgate - Southern Oracle" |
3:10 |
| 12. |
"Gmork" |
0:29 |
| 13. |
"Moonchild" |
1:24 |
| 14. |
"The Auryn" |
2:20 |
| 15. |
"Happy Flight" |
1:21 |
Differences from the novel
Since the film only covers the first half of the novel, some plot points and characters were altered and removed. The film shows Bastian's relationship with his father and being chased by bullies, while the novel only starts right when Bastian bursts in Mr. Coreander's book store. Several characters such as the will-o'-the-wisp Blubb and the large shapeshifting Ygramul were cut from the film, likely due to difficulties portraying them during the time the film was produced, their roles given to other characters. The Southern Oracle character does not have a physical form in the novel, but does in the film, appearing a pair of glowing blue sphinx creatures identical to the Sphinx Gate from earlier in the film; the third gate to reach the Southern Oracle was also cut. Atreyu and Falkor are separated by the Nothing in the film, while they are only blown apart by the four Wind Giants in the novel. The meeting of Atreyu and Gmork's is completely different from the novel; Gmork is not chained to a wall nor dying as he is in the book, but attacks Atreyu before being killed by the latter who stabs him with a sharp rock. The Nothing is very different from its novel form. It appears as a giant formation of stormclouds and according to Gmork, it was created from the people who have no hopes or dreams, causing it to destroy Fantasia (only Fantastica in the novel). In the novel, the Nothing not only destroys Fantastica but approaches people who have lost their faith and have given up on hoping, and then the people have the sudden urge to jump into the Nothing and be transformed in human lies, according to Gmork shortly before his death. The ending was altered as the first half of the novel moved right into the second half. In the novel, after Atreyu returns the Auryn to the Childlike Empress, she visits the Old Man of Wandering Mountain and forces him to read his chronicle, re-reading the entire Neverending Story which Bastian has read (along with the events involving Bastian first obtaining the actual book) until Bastian gives the empress a new name and arrives in Fantastica. The film's ending was changed so the empress brings Bastian to Fantasia by pleading with him, the film ending with the land reborn and Bastian and Falkor flying after bullies in the real world. The Old Man does not appear until the third film. In the novel, Atreyu has blue hair and green skin, while in the film he appears as a human. Artax speaks in the novel, but is mute in the film.
Release
The film opened to positive reviews, and currently holds an 83% at Rotten Tomatoes.[4] Film critic Roger Ebert gave it three stars and praised its visual effects, saying that they gave the illusion "an entirely new world has been created",[5] a comment echoed by Variety.[1] Joshua Tyler of CinemaBlend has referred to it as "One of a scant few true Fantasy masterpieces".[4] Despite this, the film underperformed at the box office, grossing only $20,158,808 on a budget of $27,000,000.[2] This was far less than contemporary movies with similar themes such as Time Bandits and The Dark Crystal, both of which grossed more than $40,000,000.[6] However when released on video the movie became one of the highest selling videos ever released and has also become a staple on Christmas Day television.[citation needed]
Home release
The Region 1 DVD was first released in 2001 by Warner Bros., containing only the North American release of the film. The only audio option is a 2.0 stereo mix in either English or Spanish. The theatrical trailer is the lone extra feature presented.
Europe has had a few releases of the film on DVD, the most lavish being a 2-disc special edition with packaging shaped like the book from the film and containing both the North American and German releases of the film. Various extras, such as a documentary, music video, and galleries, are presented on the second disc. However, there is no English audio for the German version of the film. This edition is now out of print; however, the standard 1-disc edition is still available for the Region 2 market.
A Dutch import has also appeared on the Internet in various places, which only contains the North American release of the film but also includes a remastered DTS surround track, which is not found in either the German or the Region 1 release.
It should also be noted that much of the stagecraft was auctioned after the completion of the film, some of which was used in subsequent films by Warner Brothers and other studios. This included the pieces used to bring Falkor the Luckdragon to life on-screen, which were reused in the 1994 comedy 'Dumb and Dumber' to create the protagonists' 'dog-van'.[citation needed]
Reboot
Warner Bros., The Kennedy/Marshall Co., and Leonard DiCaprio's Appian Way are in the early stages of rebooting the franchise by re-adapting Michael Ende's novel of the same name. They intend to examine the more nuanced details of the book rather than remake the original film by Wolfgang Peterson.[7]
The Internet Movie Data Base has a tentative release date for the new film in 2012.[8]
References in other media
In The Simpsons, Lionel Hutz claims he once sued the film for 'fraudulent advertising', when agreeing to represent Homer after he is kicked out of an 'all you can eat' restaurant.
In an episode of Family Guy Peter has a flashback of riding on Falkor's back.
An episode of Robot Chicken featured a sketch titled "The Neverending Party" a houseparty involving many of the creatures from the story participating in various activities such as sex, drugs, and street gang reference. The sketch also included a parody of the theme song which played over the menu of the home release of the DVD
in south park imagination land falkor is one of the imaginary creatures
References
External links
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Films directed by Wolfgang Petersen |
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| Television films |
Blechschaden (1971) · Strandgut (1972) · Anna und Totò (1972) · Jagdrevier (1973) · Nachtfrost (1973) · Smog (1973) · Van der Valk und die Reichen (1973) · Aufs Kreuz gelegt (1974) · Die Stadt im Tal (1975) · Kurzschluss (1975) · Hans im Glück (1976) · Vier gegen die Bank (1976) · Reifezeugnis (1977) · Planübung (1977) · Die Konsequenz (1977) · Schwarz und weiß wie Tage und Nächte (1978)
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| Student films |
Der Eine – der Andere (1967) · Die Rote Fahne (1968) · Ich nicht (1969) · Ich werde dich töten, Wolf (1971)
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