Fantastic Facts About 'The Never. Ending Story'The movie adaptation of German writer Michael Ende's 1. The Neverending Story (Die unendliche Geschichte) was released during that special era in the 1. PG rating almost certainly meant nightmares for children under the age of 1. Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal). But that didn't stop Wolfgang Petersen's magical adventure story from becoming a bona fide cult classic. Having recently celebrated its 3.

Fantasia with these 1. The Never. Ending Story. IT WAS THE MOST EXPENSIVE FILM IN GERMANY'S HISTORY. At the time of its release, The Never. Ending Story was the most expensive film production in the history of German cinema. With a price tag of about $2. Oscar- nominated Das Boot—also directed by Wolfgang Petersen—as the country's priciest film.

SCI FI Channel is now Syfy, but you can still get access to all your favorite SCI FI Channel content right here. Syfy features science fiction, drama, supernatural.

Luckily for Petersen and the studio, The Never. Ending Story managed to rake in approximately $1.

THE BOOK'S AUTHOR CALLED THE MOVIE "REVOLTING."Despite having worked with Petersen on the script, The Neverending Story author Michael Ende publicly bashed the finished product. Following the film's release in Germany, Ende organized a press conference where he referred to the film as "the revolting movie" and demanded that his name not appear in the credits, claiming that "The makers of the film simply did not understand the book at all. They just wanted to make money."3. ENDE WAS EMBARRASSED BY FANTASIA'S "STRIPPERS."Ende was definitely not on board with the busty, laser- shooting Sphinx statues that Atreyu encounters in the film. He said that "The Sphinxes are quite one of the biggest embarrassments of the film. They are full- bosomed strippers who sit there in the desert."4. NOT EVERYONE GOT ALONG ON SET. When asked about working with such a young cast in an interview with Sci.

The ultimate news source for music, celebrity, entertainment, movies, and current events on the web. It's pop culture on steroids. Directed by George Miller. With Jonathan Brandis, Kenny Morrison, Clarissa Burt, John Wesley Shipp. A young boy with a distant father enters a world of make-believe.

Fi. Now, special effects director Brian Johnson said "Barret Oliver (Bastian) was an absolute gem" and Tami Stronach (the Childlike Empress) "was fine .. Noah Hathaway (Atreyu) was a bit of a pain in the arse, frankly. It was very difficult for Wolfgang to get anything out of him. Barret Oliver delivered all the time, he was just brilliant, absolutely brilliant."5.

THE DIRECTOR WAS A PERFECTIONIST. There are two sides to every story, of course. And Noah Hathaway remembers things a bit differently. In a recent interview with The News Tribune, the actor—now 4.

Petersen, whose English was limited, was a perfectionist who sometimes required up to 4. A three- month movie turned into a year," says Hathaway, who noted that two iconic scenes—Artax's death in the Swamp of Sadness and the introduction of the giant turtle Morla—took two months to shoot. It was a lot of work."6. IT TOOK A WHILE TO TRAIN A HORSE TO "DROWN."There's a reason why the Swamp of Sadness scene took so long to shoot. The short version? Most horses won’t walk into deep pools of mud if they have a choice.

It took two trainers seven weeks to teach the horse playing Artax to stand still on a hydraulic platform in the swamp with mud up to his chin without trying to swim or run away. FALKOR IS A LUCKDRAGON, NOT A DOG—BUT HE'S ALSO PART AIRPLANE. The 4. 3- foot- long luckdragon’s face looks a lot like a dog's, but according to the source material, his official breed is zero percent canine. While even the special effects director referred to the creature as a “golden retriever/dragon,” Falkor’s appearance was simply the director’s interpretation.

At least two Falkor models were constructed; the first, built by Giuseppe Tortora, used airplane steel for the frames and the head alone weighed more than 2. BASTIAN IS A CANUCK. Watch Bonnie And Clyde Online Mic.

The real world does not play a major role in The Never. Ending Story, so the city is never explicitly identified. While the bulk of the film was made at Bavaria Studios in Munich, the scenes of Bastian at home, in the bookstore, and running away from the bullies down an alley were all shot in Gastown, a neighborhood in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. THE STORY DOESN'T END WITH THE CREDITS (BUT IT DOES HAVE AN ENDING).

If you’re the type of moviegoer who avoids sequels, you may want to rethink that policy in this case—or at least pick up a copy of Ende’s book. Because the film version of The Never. Ending Story ends at around the halfway point of the book, audiences never find out what happens to the beloved characters. George T. Miller's 1. The Never. Ending Story II: The Next Chapter, includes plot points from Ende’s novel, but also adds new elements to the storyline.

There is a third film in the series (1. The Never. Ending Story III), but it is an extended adventure that was not part of the book. THE THEME SONG WAS A SMASH HIT. Written by Keith Forsey, composed by Giorgio Moroder, and performed in French and English by pop singer Limahl (with additional vocals by Ann Calvert and Beth Anderson), the earworm title song is not featured in the German version of the film, but it did infect other parts of the world.

The song reached the top spot on music charts in Sweden and Norway, number 1. U. S. Billboard Hot 1. U. K. 1. 1. TWO OF THE BOOK'S BIGGEST SCENES WERE NEVER SHOT. Because of the limitations of special effects in the 1. The first was the real introduction of Falkor, during which Atreyu helps him escape from a shape- shifting monster known as Ygramul the Many. In the film, Falkor appears out of the clouds when Atreyu is near death in the Swamp of Sadness, and in the next scene, they are on the mountain where the gnomes Engywook and Urgl live. The other cut scene found Falkor and Atreyu caught in a fight between four Wind Giants.

Instead, the scene was edited to be a brush with The Nothing, where Atreyu falls off of Falkor and comes to on a beach. SOME LUCKY PEOPLE HAVE NEVERENDING STORY TATTOOS INKED BY ATREYU HIMSELF. After making a few more movies, Noah Hathaway left acting behind and tried out several other careers, including martial arts trainer and tattoo artist, the latter of which required him to revisit his Never.

Ending past. “I wouldn’t do another Auryn (talisman) tattoo because I did 1. The News Tribune. It is very flattering though.”Read more here: http: //www.

STEVEN SPIELBERG OWNS THE ORIGINAL AURYN PROP. Spielberg helped Wolfgang Petersen cut the U.

S. version of the film, which is seven minutes shorter than the German version. The pacing needed to be a little quicker for U. S. audiences, Petersen told MTV News, so he asked his friend Spielberg—who had learned his editing technique from George Lucas—for help. There were little snippets, bits and pieces here and there," explains Petersen. Nothing major. Nothing that’s like ‘take the entire sequence out.’ It was just a polish kind of thing. A pacing thing; a few seconds here, a few things here.” As a thank you for his help, Petersen gave Spielberg the Auryn. THE NEVERENDING STORY BOOK PROP ALLEGEDLY STILL EXISTS.

Someone claiming to have the original prop has tried to sell it on e. Bay a couple of times, once in 2. He even tracked down Noah Hathaway and had him pose with the book for the listing. Neither listing ended with a sale, so if you’re a big fan of the film, there may still be hope.

Jonathan Brandis - Wikipedia. Jonathan Gregory Brandis (April 1. November 1. 2, 2. American actor, director and screenwriter.

Beginning his career as a child model, Brandis moved on to acting in commercials and subsequently won television and film roles. Brandis made his acting debut in 1. ABC soap opera One Life to Live.

Later in 1. 99. 0, at the age of 1. Stephen King's supernatural horror miniseries IT. Then, at the age of 1. Lucas Wolenczak, a teen prodigy on the NBC series sea. Quest DSV. The character was popular among teenage female viewers, and Brandis regularly appeared in teen magazines. On November 1. 2, 2. Brandis died after hanging himself at the age of 2.

Personal life[edit]Brandis was born in Danbury, Connecticut. He was the only child of Mary, a teacher and personal manager, and Gregory Brandis, a food distributor and firefighter. He began his career as a child model at the age of 4, and began acting in television commercials.[1][2]He briefly dated actress Tatyana Ali in the late 1. At the age of six, Brandis won the role of Kevin Buchanan on the soap opera One Life to Live.

He moved to Los Angeles with his family at age nine, and made guest appearances on shows such as L. A. Law, Who's the Boss?, Murder, She Wrote, The Wonder Years, Full House and Kate & Allie.[3]At the age of fourteen, he received his first starring role, as Bastian Bux in The Never. Ending Story II: The Next Chapter. That same year, Brandis played the young "Stuttering Bill" Denbrough, the main protagonist in the 1. Stephen King's It, alongside Tim Curry, based on the epic horror novel of the same name. Brandis' performance in the film was lauded by critics and audiences. Brandis then appeared in Sidekicks, costarring Chuck Norris, and in Ladybugs, with actor/comedian Rodney Dangerfield.

Around the age of 1. Brandis landed one of his best- known roles, as scientific prodigy Lucas Wolenczak in Steven Spielberg's futuristic science fiction series sea. Quest DSV. The role propelled him into teen idol status.[4] At the height of his popularity, Brandis received approximately 4,0. Quest DSV by three studio security guards because of the many female fans present.[1] During his stint on sea. Quest DSV, he co- wrote and produced an episode of the series titled "The Siamese Dream".[5] He also voiced Mozenrath, an evil young sorcerer and necromancer, in Disney's animated series Aladdin.[6]After sea. Quest DSV was canceled in 1. Brandis appeared in the television film Her Last Chance, starring Kellie Martin.[7] His next role was in the television film Born Free: A New Adventure.

Shot in South Africa, the film also starred Chris Noth as Brandis's character's father.[8] He continued his career in supporting roles in Outside Providence (1. Ride with the Devil (1.

In 2. 00. 0, he costarred in Bad Girls from Valley High, which, because of distribution problems, was not released until 2. In 2. 00. 2, Brandis had a small role in Hart's War (2.

The following year, he was cast in 1. Gramercy Park, a pilot for ABC that was not picked up by the network. He made his final onscreen appearance in Puerto Vallarta Squeeze, starring Harvey Keitel and Scott Glenn. That film was also released after his death.

In addition to acting, Brandis directed several independent films and authored screenplays.[2]He produced and directed the short film. The Slainesville Boys shortly before his death.[9]Shortly before midnight on November 1. Brandis hanged himself in the hallway of his Los Angeles apartment building. His body was discovered and paramedics were called to transport him to Cedars- Sinai Medical Center.[1. Brandis died there on the afternoon of November 1.

Brandis did not leave a suicide note. After his death, it was said that he was depressed about his waning career, which had continued to decline in the final years of his life. Brandis had begun drinking heavily and had said that he intended to kill himself.[1. Paul Petersen, a former child actor and president of A Minor Consideration - an organization that deals with issues affecting child actors - stated: "Speculations as to the underlying cause of this tragedy are exactly that: speculations. It serves no purpose to leap to conclusions for none of us will really know what led Jonathan to his decision to take his life."[1. After his death, his mother revealed he had been taking Isotretinoin - a drug used to treat severe acne - and believes it may have affected his psychological health negatively and resulted in his suicide. Filmography[edit]Awards and nominations[edit]See also[edit]References[edit]^ ab.

Mc. Lellan, Dennis (November 2. Jonathan Brandis, Actor, Teen Idol". Sun- Sentinel. Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Retrieved June 1. Gould, Joe (January 1. Watch The Five Online Mic there. Fans Weep For Danbury Star Whose Suicide Ended Career".

Danbury News- Times. [page needed]^"'Sea. Quest DSV' actor Brandis dead at 2.

CNN. November 2. 3, 2. Archived from the original on December 1. Retrieved May 2. 4, 2. Benton, Nicholas F. December 4, 2. 00. From Heartthrob to Heartache: The Suicide of a Former Teen Idol".

Falls Church News- Press. [page needed]^The Siamese Dream on IMDb^Ortega, Albert (November 2. Teen idol Jonathan Brandis dies at 2. USAToday. Retrieved May 2. Mangan, Jennifer (April 2. Act Two Scene One". The Item. Retrieved January 1. Heldenfels, R. D.

April 2. 5, 1. 99. Jonathan Brandis Acting His Age". The Free Lance- Star. D6. Retrieved January 1. The Slainesville Boys on IMDb^ ab"Actor Jonathan Brandis: Suicide Investigation" (Press release). Los Angeles Police Department.

November 2. 0, 2. Ten actors who died in their 2. Sydney Morning Herald. January 2. 3, 2. 00.

Retrieved May 2. 4, 2. Teen idol Jonathan Brandis dies at 2. USA Today. November 2. A Teen Heartthrob Takes His Life". People. December 6, 2. Retrieved May 2. 4, 2. Jonathan Brandis's Death a Suicide".

E! Online. November 2. Retrieved May 2. 4, 2.

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