How The Neverending Story inspired me to write: Part 1

This is a topic near and dear to my heart. And I hope by the end it inspires you as much as it did me.

For decades, my favorite movie was 1992’s The Last of the Mohicans, a film directed by Michael Mann. A lot of movies came close to it over the decades, but it was starting to seem like Mohicans would remain cemented as my favorite for decades to come.

Then one fateful day, I rewatched The NeverEnding Story for the first time since childhood, and despite it being somewhat uneven, plenty rough around the edges, and featuring some noticeably aged special effects, it dethroned Mohicans and became my favorite movie of all time.

How did that happen?

Well, let’s start with the objective fact that it has the best “airship” music ever, surpassing even the best the Final Fantasy series has to offer.

(And let’s ignore for a minute he’s riding a luck dragon and not an airship; feeling’s all the same.)

Klaus Doldinger knocked it out of the park with this hugely atmospheric soundtrack. The movie didn’t even need Limahl. But for better or worse, Limahl’s baked into the North American version of this film and forever associated with the IP.

It’s hard to deny the powerful nostalgia associated with this song, especially if you spent your formative years in the 80’s (Gen Y). Heck, nostalgia for Limahl’s chart-topper even got people to like Stranger Things Season 3. Quite a feat.

But lots of movies have great scores with nostalgic hit songs attached to them (even from that same era – The Goonies comes to mind). So that’s not what makes The Neverending Story particularly special to me.

Then what is it? What’s the x-factor that places this film at the top of the heap?

Audiences tend to miss the full meaning of the story to this day.

I’ll start by saying people don’t seem to ‘get’ this movie. I’ve searched around the net and most can’t seem to see beyond the surface-level of the story. 

Folks tend to focus on depression and the famous Swamp of No Hope scene in their analysis, while offering little-to-no explanation for the trials Atreyu had to face, what The Nothing actually is, what the significance of naming the Childlike Empress was, why G’mork is there, what his words mean, and why the movie insists on repeatedly breaking the fourth wall, addressing the viewer.

And then there’s those on influential websites who try to view this movie through a Modern Lens, even going so far as to claim that naming the Childlike Empress had something to do with “LGBT rights“.

Others still let the original 1979 Michael Ende novel pollute the meaning that the Wolfgang Petersen movie is trying to convey from an elitist point-of-view. (Michael Ende included.)

When I was a child, the film’s meaning never dawned on me. But I’m glad I was able to revisit it so many years later. It turns out this movie has a great message for us creative types. One that is too often tragically missed. But I’m here to change all that.

I hope, in the next few posts, you’ll let me fully unpack its meaning so we can view it through a new, refreshing, inspiring lens. If you’ll be so kind, allow me to be your guide through The Neverending Story.

(To be continued…)