A screen shot of Atreyu and Falkor in Fantasia

The NeverEnding story was always an offbeat movie that was critically acclaimed and a work of art that was respected. In my mind, especially as a young child, it was off beat and I never understood why people apparently liked it so much. Now, after rewatching it, I see that it actually has a deep meaning.

An original poster from the release date in 1984 

It is a conventional film due to the main character having a clear goal and action towards the goal. Although there are no big screen actors (that I know of), it was made in Germany, with a massive budget. It was the most expensive film in Germany’s history at the time it was created, at $27 million. That would definitely classify it as conventional. In my memory of the film I thought it was just an adventure movie, but now as an adult I was mind blown in realizing there is an inception-like theme to the story. It has a much deeper meaning than I ever had thought. During the climax of the film it is explained that there is a human boy who is a part of the very story in which he is reading. There is a degree of communication from the childlike empress and the human boy. She explains to both the protagonist within the story of the book and the protagonist of the movie (the human child) that there is basically a ‘viewer’ for all worlds. There is someone who is always with us throughout our own ‘story’.

In reviewing historical documents, I learned that the movie was a huge production with less than huge results. The American version was also shortened by half an hour which left it with a choppy feel. Rather than being choppy feeling I think it just had a lot of info to fit in. Fantasia is a huge place and because of it’s distant boundaries, there is a lot of ‘just accept it’ logic in the explanations. This creates a boundless empire and going from one scene to the next can seem choppy. The film was also offensive to the original author of the book that the film was made after. That author thought that the film detracted from the true meaning and was made flashy and mainstream so as to attract popularity. The author demanded his name be removed from the credits and the negative publicity had an effect on the success.

The original book by Michael Ende

Rewatching this movie as an adult and researching it has developed my perspective from it being a kids movie to a work of art that was a state of the art film at the time of its creation. The effects used, like massive puppets, optical illusions with props to magnify size, and creating an entire swamp, just to name a few, really show the technology of the time. The CGI is obviously done with a green screen like in the flying shots, but it was the most realistic and believable technology at the time. The soundtrack is also full of synthesized music and upbeat tempos which were a popular trend in the 80’s. I wasn’t alive for those years but the general theme is reminiscent of glamour rock/David Bowie style.