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EspañolTHE NEVERENDING STORY (FILM)
(Redirected from Die Unendliche Geschichte (film))
'''The NeverEnding Story''' () is the 1984 film adaptation of the German fantasy novel by Michael Ende. The production was directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starred Barret Oliver as Bastian Balthazar Bux (named only "Bastian Bux" in the movie), Noah Hathaway as Atreyu, and Tami Stronach as The Childlike Empress.
Bastian (Barret Oliver) is a young boy and a frequent daydreamer, much to the dismay of his father (Gerald McRaney). On his was to school he is spotted by three bullies. To avoid them he hides in a dumpster in an alley. When he emerges from the container, he runs into a nearby bookstore to avoid the bullies after being spotted again. He meets an old man , Mr. Koreander, reading a book. When Bastian asks to read the book ("The Neverending Story"), the man replies that the book is "not safe". Ignoring his warnings, Bastian borrows the book without telling Mr. Koreander and heads for school, only to realize he is late for class. He heads upstairs to the school's large abandoned upper floor, where he starts to read the book.
The story of the book starts with fantastic creatures in the world of Fantasia discovering that a strange force called "The Nothing" is starting to take over their world and make things disappear. The group consists of Teeny Weeny and his racing snail, a Nighthob and his stupid bat, and a giant Rockbiter. They make their way to see the Empress of Fantasia at the Ivory Tower and ask her for help. Unfortunately, the Empress is deathly ill. The Empress has summoned a great man-warrior from a tribe of the Plains People named "Atreyu." Atreyu (Noah Hathaway) arrives, and is given a magical medallion called the Auryn, which acts as both a guide and a symbol of the Empress' authority in requesting assistance. Atreyu begins his journey with his horse, Artax.
The Nothing has summoned a wolf-vampire called the Gmork to kill Atreyu during his journey. Atreyu is trudging through the Swamps of Sadness in an effort to find Morla, a wise being who can assist him. On his way through the swamps, Artax is overcome by depression and sadness, and begins to sink to his doom. Artax drowns in the swamps, leaving Atreyu heartbroken and alone. He finds Morla, a giant turtle-like creature. After reading a description of Morla in the book, Bastian screams - a scream which is then heard quite clearly by both Morla and Atreyu, who look around the swamp in confusion.
Morla says he doesn't know how to help the Empress, but he does know who would know: The Southern Oracle. Atreyu leaves Morla and continues through the swamps. He lets the sadness take him and starts to sink. The Gmork is nearly upon him at this point, but Atreyu escapes when a flying white creature swoops down from the sky and picks him up just before he passes out. Atreyu awakens and finds his life was saved by Falkor, a flying ''luckdragon'' who resembles a dragon crossed with a dog. Falkor has flown Atreyu almost all of the way to the Southern Oracle. Falkor's caretakers - two old people named Engywook and Urgl - give Atreyu advice on crossing the last lengths to the Southern Oracle.
Atreyu must first cross by the Sphinxes. Those who cross with fear in their heart will be killed by the Sphinxes. He makes a mad dash for the other side and avoids the Sphinxes' attacks. Next, he trudges through a snowstorm to the Magic Mirror Gate, where he sees a true version of himself in the reflection - a version of himself designed to terrify him. When Atreyu looks into the mirror, he actually sees a young boy reading a book in a school.
Bastian reads this and realizes the book is describing him. When Bastian continues reading, Atreyu walks into the mirror and crosses through. Finally, Atreyu reaches the Southern Oracle, and they begin to crumble as they tell Atreyu what he must do: To save the Childlike Empress, he must give her a new name. But the only person who can tell him this new name is a human child, who can only be found outside the boundaries of Fantasia. Atreyu runs back all the way to Falkor and then flies around Fantasia looking for its boundaries so he can find a human child.
Atreyu falls off Falkor into the Sea of Possibilities and loses the Auryn. He awakens on a beach with the Nothing not far away. Atreyu walks in sorrow to a stone garden not far away. He briefly encounters the Rockbiter who reveals his friends were taken by the Nothing and decides he will be taken too. On the walls, he sees a pictoral story of himself, from his moments at the Ivory Tower to Artax dying to Falkor. Atreyu meets the Gmork. He explain that he is the "servant of the power behind the Nothing." The Gmork does not recognize Atreyu, as he never saw the boy up close, and Atreyu is no longer wearing the Auryn. Gmork tells him that Fantasia is actually the dream world of human beings. Because thoughts and dreams have no boundaries, neither does Fantasia. The Nothing is a product of human apathy and despair, which "eat away" the dreams and goals of humanity. Only one brave young boy could have saved Fantasia - a warrior named Atreyu whom he lost after tracking him to the Swamps of Sadness. Atreyu reveals his identity and picks up a sharp slab of stone, challenging Gmork to a battle. Gmork charges Atreyu and slashes him, but is killed when Atreyu stabs the Gmork with the slab. The Nothing begins to enter the area and tear the world apart, but Falkor arrives at the last moment and saves him with the Auryn.
Falkor and Atreyu are flying around the emptiness of space, as the rest of Fantasia is gone. With the guide of the Auryn, they fly back to the Ivory Tower. Atreyu goes inside the tower and comes face to face with The Childlike Empress (Tami Stronach). The Empress tells him he hasn't failed, and has indeed brought a human child with him. The Empress begins to tell of the human child, who escaped bullies in a bookstore, then accompanied Atreyu on his journey all along.
As Bastian reads the story of Atreyu's journey, he realizes the book is aware of his presence. The Empress reiterates that all Fantasia needs is for the human child to give her a new name. As the Ivory Tower starts to fall apart and Atreyu is knocked out in the ensuing chaos, the Empress tearfully addresses Bastian by name in the book's text: "''Bastian...why don't you do what you dream, Bastian?...Call my name! Bastian...please! Save us!''" Torn between his father's insistence that he must live in the real world and the Empress's plea, Bastian finally runs to the nearest open window, and screams "Moonchild" out into the night.
Bastian is standing with the Empress, who says that all of Fantasia was destroyed by The Nothing, but Bastian's bravery helped one grain of sand from the dream survive. With this one grain of sand, Bastian can rebuild the entire world through wishes and imagination. Bastian wishes for Fantasia's restoration, and riding on Falkor. He flies over the land finding all its citizens alive and well, including Atreyu and Artax. As he and Falkor fly into the city, they successfully scare one of the bullies from the beginning into falling in a pile of garbage while and the other two into a dumpster.
★ 'Bastian Balthazar 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 save Fantasia
★ 'Atreyu': The main protagonist in the Neverending Story. Atreyu is from the Plains People, despite originating differently from the novel. He and his horse Artex are sent to search for a cure to the Empress' illness. He is protected by the Auryn.
★ 'Childlike Empress': The ruler of Fantasia, the Empress has fallen deathly ill due to the presence of the Nothing. Atreyu is sent to find a cure for her.
★ 'Falkor': A Luckdragon who saves Atreyu from the Gmork in the Swamps of Sadness and becomes his friend and companion. Falkor has a very upbeat and cheerful personality, even in the darkest of times.
★ 'Gmork': A vampirific wolf who hunts Atreyu to prevent him from stopping the Nothing. He eventually meets Atreyu but is impaled by a sharp rock and dies.
★ 'The Nothing': A dark mysterious force that is destroying Fantasia. It is made from the misery of those with no hopes and no dreams. The only way it can be destroyed is if the Empress receives a new name from an Earthling Child.
★ 'Mr. Koreander': The librarian who Bastian meets. He forbids Bastian from taking the Neverending Story, but he takes it anyway, with a promise it will be returned safely.
★ 'The Rockbiter': A large giant made entirely from rocks. He loves eating rocks and becomes a companion to Teeny Weeny and the Nighthob. He fails to save them from the Nothing and waits to be taken too.
★ 'Teeny Weeny and the Nighthob': A pair of travellers along with their racing snail and sleeping bat. They travel with the Rockbiter to the Ivory Tower. Teeny Weeny is a friendly man, while the Nighthob has a grouchy attitude and believes a lot of people are nutcases.
★ 'Carion': A servant of the Empress who gives Atreyu his quest and the Auryn.
★ 'Morla the Ancient One': A giant turtle disguised as a large hill in the Swamps of Sadness. Moira, despite being rather selfish, gives Atreyu advise on his quest.
★ 'Engywook and Urgl': A pair of gnomes who are Falkor's guardians. Engywook is a researcher on the Southern Oracle, while his wife somewhat of witch who makes odd brews for the ill. They have an uneasy marriage.
★ 'The Southern Oracle': An ancient oracle character who can only be reached by passing through its judgmental gates. It reveals how to save Fantasia to Atreyu before falling to pieces and dying.
★ 'Mr. Bux': Bastian's widowed father who worries for Bastian's childish behaviour.
★ 'Bullies': Three cruel bullies who dislike Bastian, but their pursuits of him lead to his adventures. Bastian eventually gets payback using Falkor
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 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.[1] He did succeed in having his name removed from the opening credits, although his name does appear in the closing.
Music for the movie was composed by Klaus Doldinger of the German jazz group Passport. The theme song to the American version of the film was composed by Giorgio Moroder with lyrics by Keith Forsey, and performed by Limahl, lead singer of Kajagoogoo. 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 score exclusively.
The Limahl theme song was released as a single in 1984, it peaked at #4 in the UK singles chart and at #6 in the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. The American theme song has been covered by The Birthday Massacre, Creamy, Dragonland, New Found Glory and violinist/singer Omar Lopez.
★
'''The NeverEnding Story''' () is the 1984 film adaptation of the German fantasy novel by Michael Ende. The production was directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starred Barret Oliver as Bastian Balthazar Bux (named only "Bastian Bux" in the movie), Noah Hathaway as Atreyu, and Tami Stronach as The Childlike Empress.
| Contents |
| Plot summary |
| Main Characters |
| Production notes |
| Music |
| External links |
Plot summary
Bastian (Barret Oliver) is a young boy and a frequent daydreamer, much to the dismay of his father (Gerald McRaney). On his was to school he is spotted by three bullies. To avoid them he hides in a dumpster in an alley. When he emerges from the container, he runs into a nearby bookstore to avoid the bullies after being spotted again. He meets an old man , Mr. Koreander, reading a book. When Bastian asks to read the book ("The Neverending Story"), the man replies that the book is "not safe". Ignoring his warnings, Bastian borrows the book without telling Mr. Koreander and heads for school, only to realize he is late for class. He heads upstairs to the school's large abandoned upper floor, where he starts to read the book.
Two beings of Fantasia
The story of the book starts with fantastic creatures in the world of Fantasia discovering that a strange force called "The Nothing" is starting to take over their world and make things disappear. The group consists of Teeny Weeny and his racing snail, a Nighthob and his stupid bat, and a giant Rockbiter. They make their way to see the Empress of Fantasia at the Ivory Tower and ask her for help. Unfortunately, the Empress is deathly ill. The Empress has summoned a great man-warrior from a tribe of the Plains People named "Atreyu." Atreyu (Noah Hathaway) arrives, and is given a magical medallion called the Auryn, which acts as both a guide and a symbol of the Empress' authority in requesting assistance. Atreyu begins his journey with his horse, Artax.
The Nothing has summoned a wolf-vampire called the Gmork to kill Atreyu during his journey. Atreyu is trudging through the Swamps of Sadness in an effort to find Morla, a wise being who can assist him. On his way through the swamps, Artax is overcome by depression and sadness, and begins to sink to his doom. Artax drowns in the swamps, leaving Atreyu heartbroken and alone. He finds Morla, a giant turtle-like creature. After reading a description of Morla in the book, Bastian screams - a scream which is then heard quite clearly by both Morla and Atreyu, who look around the swamp in confusion.
Morla says he doesn't know how to help the Empress, but he does know who would know: The Southern Oracle. Atreyu leaves Morla and continues through the swamps. He lets the sadness take him and starts to sink. The Gmork is nearly upon him at this point, but Atreyu escapes when a flying white creature swoops down from the sky and picks him up just before he passes out. Atreyu awakens and finds his life was saved by Falkor, a flying ''luckdragon'' who resembles a dragon crossed with a dog. Falkor has flown Atreyu almost all of the way to the Southern Oracle. Falkor's caretakers - two old people named Engywook and Urgl - give Atreyu advice on crossing the last lengths to the Southern Oracle.
Falkor the luckdragon
Atreyu must first cross by the Sphinxes. Those who cross with fear in their heart will be killed by the Sphinxes. He makes a mad dash for the other side and avoids the Sphinxes' attacks. Next, he trudges through a snowstorm to the Magic Mirror Gate, where he sees a true version of himself in the reflection - a version of himself designed to terrify him. When Atreyu looks into the mirror, he actually sees a young boy reading a book in a school.
Bastian reads this and realizes the book is describing him. When Bastian continues reading, Atreyu walks into the mirror and crosses through. Finally, Atreyu reaches the Southern Oracle, and they begin to crumble as they tell Atreyu what he must do: To save the Childlike Empress, he must give her a new name. But the only person who can tell him this new name is a human child, who can only be found outside the boundaries of Fantasia. Atreyu runs back all the way to Falkor and then flies around Fantasia looking for its boundaries so he can find a human child.
Atreyu falls off Falkor into the Sea of Possibilities and loses the Auryn. He awakens on a beach with the Nothing not far away. Atreyu walks in sorrow to a stone garden not far away. He briefly encounters the Rockbiter who reveals his friends were taken by the Nothing and decides he will be taken too. On the walls, he sees a pictoral story of himself, from his moments at the Ivory Tower to Artax dying to Falkor. Atreyu meets the Gmork. He explain that he is the "servant of the power behind the Nothing." The Gmork does not recognize Atreyu, as he never saw the boy up close, and Atreyu is no longer wearing the Auryn. Gmork tells him that Fantasia is actually the dream world of human beings. Because thoughts and dreams have no boundaries, neither does Fantasia. The Nothing is a product of human apathy and despair, which "eat away" the dreams and goals of humanity. Only one brave young boy could have saved Fantasia - a warrior named Atreyu whom he lost after tracking him to the Swamps of Sadness. Atreyu reveals his identity and picks up a sharp slab of stone, challenging Gmork to a battle. Gmork charges Atreyu and slashes him, but is killed when Atreyu stabs the Gmork with the slab. The Nothing begins to enter the area and tear the world apart, but Falkor arrives at the last moment and saves him with the Auryn.
The Childlike Empress and Atreyu
As Bastian reads the story of Atreyu's journey, he realizes the book is aware of his presence. The Empress reiterates that all Fantasia needs is for the human child to give her a new name. As the Ivory Tower starts to fall apart and Atreyu is knocked out in the ensuing chaos, the Empress tearfully addresses Bastian by name in the book's text: "''Bastian...why don't you do what you dream, Bastian?...Call my name! Bastian...please! Save us!''" Torn between his father's insistence that he must live in the real world and the Empress's plea, Bastian finally runs to the nearest open window, and screams "Moonchild" out into the night.
Bastian is standing with the Empress, who says that all of Fantasia was destroyed by The Nothing, but Bastian's bravery helped one grain of sand from the dream survive. With this one grain of sand, Bastian can rebuild the entire world through wishes and imagination. Bastian wishes for Fantasia's restoration, and riding on Falkor. He flies over the land finding all its citizens alive and well, including Atreyu and Artax. As he and Falkor fly into the city, they successfully scare one of the bullies from the beginning into falling in a pile of garbage while and the other two into a dumpster.
Main Characters
★ 'Bastian Balthazar 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 save Fantasia
★ 'Atreyu': The main protagonist in the Neverending Story. Atreyu is from the Plains People, despite originating differently from the novel. He and his horse Artex are sent to search for a cure to the Empress' illness. He is protected by the Auryn.
★ 'Childlike Empress': The ruler of Fantasia, the Empress has fallen deathly ill due to the presence of the Nothing. Atreyu is sent to find a cure for her.
★ 'Falkor': A Luckdragon who saves Atreyu from the Gmork in the Swamps of Sadness and becomes his friend and companion. Falkor has a very upbeat and cheerful personality, even in the darkest of times.
★ 'Gmork': A vampirific wolf who hunts Atreyu to prevent him from stopping the Nothing. He eventually meets Atreyu but is impaled by a sharp rock and dies.
★ 'The Nothing': A dark mysterious force that is destroying Fantasia. It is made from the misery of those with no hopes and no dreams. The only way it can be destroyed is if the Empress receives a new name from an Earthling Child.
★ 'Mr. Koreander': The librarian who Bastian meets. He forbids Bastian from taking the Neverending Story, but he takes it anyway, with a promise it will be returned safely.
★ 'The Rockbiter': A large giant made entirely from rocks. He loves eating rocks and becomes a companion to Teeny Weeny and the Nighthob. He fails to save them from the Nothing and waits to be taken too.
★ 'Teeny Weeny and the Nighthob': A pair of travellers along with their racing snail and sleeping bat. They travel with the Rockbiter to the Ivory Tower. Teeny Weeny is a friendly man, while the Nighthob has a grouchy attitude and believes a lot of people are nutcases.
★ 'Carion': A servant of the Empress who gives Atreyu his quest and the Auryn.
★ 'Morla the Ancient One': A giant turtle disguised as a large hill in the Swamps of Sadness. Moira, despite being rather selfish, gives Atreyu advise on his quest.
★ 'Engywook and Urgl': A pair of gnomes who are Falkor's guardians. Engywook is a researcher on the Southern Oracle, while his wife somewhat of witch who makes odd brews for the ill. They have an uneasy marriage.
★ 'The Southern Oracle': An ancient oracle character who can only be reached by passing through its judgmental gates. It reveals how to save Fantasia to Atreyu before falling to pieces and dying.
★ 'Mr. Bux': Bastian's widowed father who worries for Bastian's childish behaviour.
★ 'Bullies': Three cruel bullies who dislike Bastian, but their pursuits of him lead to his adventures. Bastian eventually gets payback using Falkor
Production notes
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 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.[1] He did succeed in having his name removed from the opening credits, although his name does appear in the closing.
Music
Music for the movie was composed by Klaus Doldinger of the German jazz group Passport. The theme song to the American version of the film was composed by Giorgio Moroder with lyrics by Keith Forsey, and performed by Limahl, lead singer of Kajagoogoo. 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 score exclusively.
The Limahl theme song was released as a single in 1984, it peaked at #4 in the UK singles chart and at #6 in the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. The American theme song has been covered by The Birthday Massacre, Creamy, Dragonland, New Found Glory and violinist/singer Omar Lopez.
External links
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