50 Fun Facts About The NeverEnding Story

How much was Michael Ende paid for the film rights to his novel?

He worked as a script advisor at first, then claimed Petersen rewrote the script without him.

What is the full name of the boy who steals the book and reads it in his school attic?

He is grieving his mother and neglected by his father when he hides from bullies in Coreander's bookshop.

What is the name of the bookshop owner from whom Bastian takes the book?

At the end he denies ever owning the book and reveals he too has been to Fantastica.

What is the magical land called in the English translation of the novel, as opposed to the film?

The 1984 film renamed it Fantasia, closer to the German Phantásien.

What is the formless force devouring the land called?

Gmork explains it represents humanity's loss of hopes and dreams; those it swallows become lies in the human world.

In the novel, what does the young hero's name Atreyu mean in his native tongue?

His parents were killed by a Purple Buffalo soon after his birth, so his whole village raised him.

What is the name of the protective amulet Atreyu is given?

Its two intertwined snakes carry the inscription 'Do What You Wish' on the back.

What kind of creature is Falkor?

He is the only luckdragon in the story, though five others are mentioned; the film made him white and dog-like.

From which shapeshifting creature does Atreyu rescue Falkor?

Ygramul is a swarm of hornet-like insects sharing one mind, usually taking the form of a giant spider.

Which giant turtle does Atreyu consult early in his quest?

In the film she lives in the Swamps of Sadness and sends him to the Southern Oracle ten thousand miles away.

What is the name of the invisible oracle Atreyu seeks in the novel?

The film calls it the Southern Oracle, guarded by two deadly gates.

What is the werewolf who serves the destroying force called?

He dies laughing in Spook City after Atreyu declares himself the hero, jaws clamped on Atreyu's leg.

What must a human do to cure the Childlike Empress?

Only someone from beyond Fantastica's borders can do it, which is why the characters begin to sense Bastian.

What name does Bastian give the Childlike Empress?

He shouts it only after realising the story will loop forever without him.

Who reads another copy of The Neverending Story aloud, forcing the tale to loop back?

This is the moment Bastian realises he must act or the story will repeat endlessly.

What is inscribed on the back of Auryn?

Every wish Bastian makes with it costs him a memory of his human life.

What does each wish cost Bastian once he is inside the magical land?

He ends up with only two memories, his father and his own name, and must give up his father to find his true wish.

Which sorceress manipulates Bastian into trying to crown himself emperor?

Atreyu fights Bastian and the Ivory Tower is destroyed; she also appears as the villain of the 1990 film.

What does Bastian discover is his strongest wish, after giving up the memory of his father?

He must then find the Water of Life to return home with his memories.

How was the original German edition of the novel printed to distinguish its two worlds?

Red for the human world, green for Fantastica; Ende insisted on hardcover so it looked like the book Bastian steals.

How many weeks did the novel spend at number one on West Germany's Der Spiegel bestseller list?

It stayed on the list for 332 weeks in total and has sold more than eight million copies in 36 languages.

Who directed the 1984 film, his first in English?

He had made Das Boot; Helmut Dietl was originally attached to direct.

How much of the novel does the 1984 film adapt?

It stops mid-way through chapter XIII and tacks on a new ending in which Bastian chases the bullies with Falkor.

How did Michael Ende react to the 1984 film?

He called it a 'gigantic melodrama of kitsch, commerce, plush, and plastic' after being paid $50,000 for the rights.

Who plays Atreyu in the 1984 film?

He won a Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor; Barret Oliver played Bastian.

Which actress plays the Childlike Empress in the 1984 film?

Alexandra Johnes took the role in the 1990 sequel.

What is the name of Atreyu's horse, lost in the Swamps of Sadness in the film?

He is restored when Bastian recreates Fantasia at the end.

Which voice actor provides the voices of both Falkor and Gmork in the English film?

He was also the voice of Skeletor in the original He-Man cartoon.

Which two gnomes live near the gates of the Southern Oracle in the film?

Atreyu is nursed back to health there after Falkor plucks him from the swamp.

What does the Empress give Bastian as the last remnant of Fantasia in the film?

She tells him his imagination is enough to rebuild the whole world from it.

Where was the bulk of the 1984 film shot?

The real-world street scenes were filmed in Vancouver and Atreyu's beach at Playa de Mónsul in Almería, Spain.

In which Canadian city were Bastian's real-world street and school scenes filmed?

The Gastown steam clock is visible as the bullies chase Bastian down Cambie Street.

The 60-million-Deutsche-Mark budget reputedly made the 1984 production what?

It grossed about $100 million worldwide, with nearly five million admissions in Germany alone.

Who sang the English-language theme 'Never Ending Story'?

The former Kajagoogoo frontman shared vocals with Beth Andersen; a French version was also recorded.

Which Italian producer composed the 'Never Ending Story' theme?

His synth-pop is absent from the German cut, which uses only Klaus Doldinger's orchestral score.

Which Netflix series revived the theme song in 2019, with Dustin and Suzie singing it as a duet?

The scene closed season three, set in 1985; the song hit number one in Norway, Spain and Sweden on release.

Who plays Bastian in The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990)?

Only Thomas Hill, as bookseller Coreander, returned from the first film's cast.

Which future star played the school bully Slip in The NeverEnding Story III (1994)?

The third film has an original plot, drops Atreyu entirely and was a critical and box-office flop.

Michael Ende was born in Garmisch, Bavaria, the son of what kind of artist?

Edgar Ende's work was banned by the Nazis; Michael's other famous novel is Momo.

What was the name of Michael Ende's first novel, written in the late 1950s?

Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver became a beloved German children's classic and puppet series.

Who plays Bastian in the 1984 film?

He spends most of the film alone in a school attic with a book, a blanket and a sandwich, reacting to a story we watch unfold.

The singer of the English theme song had fronted which 1980s band?

Christopher Hamill's stage name is an anagram of his surname; the 'Too Shy' hitmakers had sacked him the year before the film came out.

Roughly how much did the film gross worldwide?

Around a fifth of that came from Germany, where nearly five million admissions made it the highest-grossing German film of its day.

How long did Roger Ebert point out the film was, after Gene Siskel called it 'much too long'?

Siskel also said Falkor looked like a cheap toy, while Ebert gave the film three stars and praised its entirely new world of effects.

Which Simpsons character claims to have sued the film for fraudulent advertising?

The gag from 'New Kid on the Block' riffs on the title's promise, delivered by Phil Hartman's hapless lawyer.

New York Times critic Vincent Canby said the dragon looked like what household item?

He panned the whole thing as a 'graceless, humorless fantasy for children', comparing parts of it to a pre-teen guide to existentialism.

Who composed the film's orchestral score, heard exclusively in the German version?

The jazz saxophonist from the group Passport lost several cues outside Germany, where the pop theme and synth rescoring were added.

Which producer was urged to make the film by his own children, who had read the book?

He was reluctant, but joined the rights holder Dieter Geissler and went on to win a Bavarian Film Award for the production.

The beach where Atreyu washes up was filmed in which region of Spain?

Playa de Mónsul, in the Cabo de Gata park, later doubled as a desert shoreline in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Which director was originally attached to the film before dropping out?

Petersen, fresh from Das Boot, replaced him and turned the job into his first English-language picture.