The NeverEnding Story is a fantasy family film that released in 1984 and it was based on the 1979 novel of the same name by Michael Ende, though the film only covered the first half of the novel while its sequel was loosely based on the second half. It was directed by Wolfgang Petersen and was his first film in the English Language.
The film follows a young boy called Bastian who finds a magical book that tells the story of a hero named Atreyu and his attempts to stop The Nothing, a dark and malevolent force threatening the world of Fantasia. The NeverEnding Story is considered to be a cult classic, but even the biggest fans out there might be surprised by some of the trivia and facts behind the making of the film.
10 The Author Hates the Film
Michael Ende, the author of the novel The Neverending Story, has never liked the film version of his work and actually refused to have his name in the opening credits of the film. Instead, a small credit for him appears in the closing credits.
Ende hated the adaptation so much that he asked for the title name to be changed or for the film to be canceled entirely but was refused on both counts. After this, he attempted to file a lawsuit against the studio but he lost. Ende especially did not like the ending of the film where Bastian chases his bullies on the back of Falcor, as this scene was not in the novel.
9 That Wasn’t Atreyu’s Real Voice
During a convention appearance at a panel for Dragoncon in 2010, Noah Hathaway who played the heroic role of Atreyu revealed that virtually none of his lines in the film are his own voice, despite the fact that he did record the lines himself.
Instead, another actor was brought in to dub over Hathaway’s lines and this was used for the finished film. The voice used was apparently different from that of Hathaway, who was higher pitched and had no accent. Whoever this other actor was, they appear to have gone uncredited. You can hear Noah Hathaway’s actual voice in the Making Of Special released in 1983.
8 Cameos from Famous Characters
During the very first scene inside the Ivory Tower, eagle-eyed viewers can spot many well-known characters from other media hidden among the Fantasians. Characters that appear to feature are Yoda, Gumby, Chewbacca, Mickey Mouse, two Ewoks, C-3PO, and E.T.
Notably, these characters are only present in the wide shots and were likely digitally added, as in close-up scenes where characters such as Yoda should be visible based on their placement, they are not actually there. These characters were probably kept fairly obscure on purpose so as not to draw attention to them too much and cause licensing and copyright issues.
7 The Childlike Empress Had to Wear Fake Teeth
Tami Stronach, the actress who played the Childlike Empress, revealed in an interview that she lost two of her upper front teeth shortly before filming and so had to wear dentures to cover up the gaps, and that as a result of the denture she initially had a lisp while getting used to them.
Fortunately, by the time they filmed her second scene a few months later, her teeth had grown back in enough that she didn’t have to wear the denture, but that she couldn’t smile too much and reveal the still-growing teeth.
6 Atreyu Should Have Been Green
In the original novel, Atreyu is a member of the Greenskin race and so naturally has green-colored skin. The make-up team for the film adaptation did attempt to keep this character trait and actually painted the actor who played Atreyu (Noah Hathaway) in green paint.
However, this effect did not work well on screen and the idea was ultimately scrapped, leaving Atreyu as a normal human instead. Hathaway is said to have commented on the green paint with the following, “It wasn’t believable. I looked like fungi!“.
5 Scrapped Scenes
The film lost a lot of content when compared to the original novel, but this is only natural when it comes to book-to-film adaptations. However, some of the best scenes from the book were initially planned for the film but ultimately had to be scrapped due to technological constraints at the time, and that they just simply couldn’t make it work before the invention of CGI. Two notable scenes were originally scripted for the film but later dropped.
The first was to be Falcor the Luck Dragon‘s first real appearance, with Atreyu saving him from Ygramul the Many, a creature made of many poisonous wasps that take the form of a giant spider. In the original script, this would have been when the story characters heard Bastian’s scream and also explains the later scene where the gnomes give them medicine. The second was Atreyu and Falcor encountering Wind Giants, essentially giant people made of clouds.
4 Director Cameo
Near the beginning of the film, when Bastian gets out of the garbage bin and the bullies chase him once more, the director Wolfgang Petersen actually cameos in the film. He is one of the people that the bullies run into as they chase Bastian.
Additionally, the man walking just behind Petersen shown smoking a cigarette is the producer of the movie, Bernd Eichinger. The bullies also bump into him, causing him to drop a bottle that breaks on the floor.
3 The Childlike Empress’ New Name
At the end of the film, Bastian realizes (after much prompting from the Childlike Empress) that he must give her a new name and call out to her with it to save the world of Fantasia. Bastian then dramatically runs to his window and shouts out into the storm.
There has been much debate over the years over what the name was that Bastian gave the Childlike Empress, but the original novel reveals the name to be “Moonchild.” For anyone who wants to test this theory and rewatch this particular clip, the name Moonchild does seem to fit with what Bastian is shouting.
2 The German Version is Different
The German version of the film is different from the US cut that was eventually released everywhere else. The original German version is seven minutes longer, as Stephen Spielberg helped Wolfgang Petersen to cut small parts of the film in various places to make it faster-paced and smoother for American audiences. Petersen gifted the original Auryn to Spielberg as a thank you gift.
Additionally, the original German version only has the classical orchestral score by Klaus Doldinger, while the international version has synth and techno-pop elements mixed in with the help of Giorgio Moroder.
1 It was Expensive to Make
At the time of its release, The NeverEnding Story was the most expensive film to be made outside the United States or the Soviet Union. Considering that this created in a time before CGI and modern special effects, it’s no wonder that the film cost so much to make as all of the fantastical creatures and elements had to be actually created, whether lifesize or in miniature form.
Additionally, the film took four times longer to finish than they had anticipated, as they had originally planned to shoot it all within three months but it ended up taking a year.
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