Released in 1984, The NeverEnding Story was the most expensive film ever produced in Germany at the time the incredible box office results that followed made the ambitious investment worthwhile. The German production was Petersen’s first English-language film he would go on to direct Hollywood epics including Troy (2004) and Poseidon (2006). He called the film a “gigantic melodrama of kitsch, commerce, plush and plastic,” and was unhappy with it to the point that he sued the movie studio - but he didn’t win the case. The script deviated from the book, and Ende was crushed knowing his story would be changed in a number of ways.

“When this came along I had the feeling, ‘Oh my god, after three years of working on Das Boot it would be wonderful to completely go into a different world and do something that deals more with the dreams and wishes of kids,'” he told the website Nerdist.Īlthough Ende initially had a role in co-writing the screenplay with Peterson, their visions clashed over time. German director Wolfgang Petersen, who was known at the time for the war film Das Boot, was looking for new material for his next project. Michael Ende (1929-1995) is one of the most popular and famous German authors of the 20th century. The English translation by Ralph Manheim reached the United States in 1983, and the film came out a year later. The award-winning bookwas translated into over 40 languages, selling millions of copies worldwide.

The popular author of other classics of children’s literature, including his books Momo and Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver, said that every good interpretation was right.Īfter an initial print run of 20,000 copies, The Neverending Story stayed at the top of bestsellers’ charts for years. Its utopian and environmentalist message appealed to West German anti-nuclear and peace activists, and the novel was seen as way more than a children’s book. Various critical interpretations analysed its meaning.Įnde, who died in 1995, refused to provide an answer to that question. Certain moments also underscore this crossover relationship: Atreyu hears Bastian scream, for instance, and he sees Bastian’s image in a mirror.įollowing the publication of The Neverending Story, the book won acclaim throughout Europe. The illustrations included on the pages combine both red and green lines to show that Fantastica and Bastian’s real-life world intertwine. In order to save Fantastica, a human child must give the empress a new name - and this is how Bastian is called to actually enter the fantastical universe himself.īy colour coding the text, Ende made it clear in the novel when the story unfolds in reality (red font) and in Fantastica (green font).

The neverending story book series