The NeverEnding Story (film)

Ten-year-old Bastian Bux is a shy outcast who lives with his widowed father. One day on his way to school, Bastian is chased by bullies but escapes by hiding in a bookstore, annoying the bookseller, Mr. Coreander. Bastian's interest in books leads him to ask about the one Coreander is reading, but the bookseller advises against reading it, saying that it is not a "safe" story like regular books. With his curiosity piqued, Bastian secretly takes the book, titled The Neverending Story, leaving a note promising to return it, and hides in the school's attic to read.

The book describes the fantasy world of Fantasia slowly being devoured by a malevolent force called "The Nothing". The Childlike Empress, who rules Fantasia, has fallen ill, and the young warrior Atreyu is tasked to discover a cure, believing that once the Empress is well, the Nothing will no longer be a threat. Atreyu is given a medallion called the Auryn that can guide and protect him in the quest. As Atreyu sets out, the Nothing summons a vicious and highly intelligent wolf-like creature named Gmork and sends him to kill Atreyu.

Atreyu's quest directs him to the giant, turtle-like adviser Morla the Ancient One in the Swamps of Sadness. Though the Auryn protects Atreyu, his beloved horse Artax is lost to the swamp, and he continues alone. Morla won't help Atreyu because of his allergies and apathy, instead directs Atreyu to the Southern Oracle, ten thousand miles distant before going back to eternal sleep. Gmork closes in as Atreyu succumbs to exhaustion trying to escape the Swamps, but is narrowly saved by the luck dragon Falkor. Falkor takes him to the home of two gnomes who live near the gates to the Southern Oracle. Atreyu crosses the first gate, but is perplexed when the second gate—a mirror that shows the viewer's true self—reveals a boy which Bastian recognizes as himself. Atreyu eventually meets the Southern Oracle, who tells him that the only way to save the Empress is to find a human child who lives beyond the boundaries of Fantasia to give her a new name. Atreyu and Falkor flee, as the Nothing consumes the Southern Oracle.

In flight, Atreyu is knocked from Falkor's back into the Sea of Possibilities by the Nothing, losing the Auryn in the process. He wakes on the shore of some abandoned ruins, where he finds several murals depicting his adventure, including one of Gmork. Gmork then reveals himself and explains that Fantasia represents humanity's imagination and is thus without boundaries, while the Nothing is a manifestation of the loss of hopes and dreams. Atreyu battles and kills Gmork, as the Nothing begins to consume the ruins.

Falkor manages to retrieve the Auryn and rescue Atreyu. The two find themselves in a void with only small fragments of Fantasia remaining, fearing that they have failed, until they spot the Empress' Ivory Tower among the fragments. Inside, Atreyu apologizes for failing the Empress, but she assures him that he has succeeded in bringing to her a human child who has been following his quest – Bastian. She further explains that, just as Bastian is following Atreyu's story, "others" are following Bastian's, making this part of the Neverending Story. As the Nothing begins to consume the Tower, the Empress explains that Bastian must call out her new name to save Fantasia. Disbelieving he has been incorporated with the story, he denies these events actually happened. He gives in after she pleads directly to him to call out her new name, running to the window of the attic to call out "Moon Child".

Bastian awakens with the Empress, who presents him with a grain of sand – the sole remnant of Fantasia. The Empress tells Bastian that he has the power to bring Fantasia back with his imagination. Bastian re-creates Fantasia and flies on Falkor's back to see the land and its inhabitants restored, including Atreyu and Artax. When Falkor asks what his next wish will be, Bastian brings Falkor to the real world to chase down the school bullies. The film narrates that Bastian had many more wishes and adventures, "But that's another story".

Author Michael Ende was initially happy about his book being turned into a film. Ende worked with Wolfgang Petersen as a script advisor and was paid only $50,000 for the rights to his book. Ende claimed that Petersen later rewrote the script without consulting him, and felt that this adaptation's content deviated so far from the spirit of his book that he requested that production either be halted or the film's title be changed. When the producers did neither, he sued them and subsequently lost the case.[3] Ende called the film a "gigantic melodrama of kitsch, commerce, plush and plastic" (German: Ein gigantisches Melodram aus Kitsch, Kommerz, Plüsch und Plastik").[5]

Helmut Dietl was originally attached to direct the film, but later dropped out and was replaced with Wolfgang Petersen.[6]

The adaptation only covered the first half of the book. German producer Bernd Eichinger saw his children reading the book, and they urged him to make a film out of it. He was reluctant to adapt the book, but agreed to do so and acquired the rights to the book. The bulk of the film was shot at Stage 1 of the Bavaria Studios in Munich, with the street scenes and the school interior in the real world shot in Vancouver, Canada (the Gastown Vancouver Steam Clock can be seen in the bully chase scene at the end of the film, as the three bullies are chased down Cambie Street past the steam clock at the intersection of Water Street and then on down Blood Alley[7]),[8] and the beach where Atreyu falls, which was filmed at Playa de Mónsul in San Jose, Almería, Spain.

The film score of The NeverEnding Story was composed by Klaus Doldinger of the German jazz group Passport. The theme song of the English version of the film was composed by Giorgio Moroder, with lyrics by Keith Forsey, and performed by Christopher "Limahl" Hamill, once the lead singer of Kajagoogoo, and Beth Anderson. Released as a single in 1984, it peaked at No. 4 on the UK singles chart, No. 6 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has been covered by Armonite, The Birthday Massacre, Creamy, Dragonland, Kenji Haga and New Found Glory. More recent covers were done by Norwegian synthpop group Echo Image on their 2001 maxi-single Skulk and by German techno group Scooter on their 2007 album Jumping All Over the World. This Limahl song, along with other "techno-pop" treatments to the soundtrack, is not present in the German version of the film, which features Doldinger's orchestral score exclusively.

In 1994, Italian house music group Club House released the song "Nowhere Land", featuring Carl, which combines the melody of the tune "Bastian's Happy Flight" with original lyrics.

An official soundtrack album was released featuring Doldinger's score and Moroder's theme tune (Moroder also rescored several scenes for the version released outside Germany).[9] The track listing (Doldinger is responsible for everything from track 6 onwards) is as follows:

In Germany, an album featuring Doldinger's score was released.

• 6 April 1984 in West Germany (Die unendliche Geschichte)[11]
• 20 July 1984 in the United States (The NeverEnding Story)[12][13]
• 6 October 1984 in Brazil (A História Sem Fim)
• 21 November 1984 in France (L'Histoire sans fin)[14]
• 6 December 1984 in Spain (La Historia Interminable)[15]
• 7 December 1984 in Italy (La storia infinita)[16]
• 4 April 1985 in the United Kingdom (The NeverEnding Story)[17]

• In The Simpsons episode "New Kid on the Block", Lionel Hutz claims to have filed a suit against the film for fraudulent advertising.[27]
• The metalcore band Atreyu took their name from the character of the same name from the film.
• The beatdown hardcore band Nasty has song called "Fantasia" from album "Shokka" is dedicated to this film.
• Korn's album The Nothing is named directly in reference to the Nothing in the film. Korn frontman Jonathan Davis chose the title as he was still struggling with the death of his estranged wife Deven Davis. Jonathan had said: "I was struggling with the thing that's chasing me – that's always freaking with me. I tried to give it a name and it just fit".[28]
• In 2019, the theme song for the film was incorporated into the final episode of the third season of the science fiction thriller show Stranger Things, which takes place in 1985, furthering its status as a staple of 1980s pop culture.[29] After the episode was aired, the Internet paid streams for the original theme songs went from 300,000 to 1.5 million downloads a month.[30]

In 2009, Warner Bros., The Kennedy/Marshall Company and Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions were in the early stages of creating another adaptation of Ende's novel. They intended to "examine the more nuanced details of the book" rather than remake the original film by Petersen.[31] In 2011, producer Kathleen Kennedy said that problems securing the rights to the story may mean that a second adaptation is "not meant to be".[32]

In September 2022, a bidding war for the film and TV rights of The NeverEnding Story between studios and streamers had emerged.[33]

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• The NeverEnding Story at IMDb
• The NeverEnding Story at Box Office Mojo