The NeverEnding Story (40th anniversary)

Let's take a ride on Falcor and fly back to 1984! Mark welcomes fellow podcasters and movie lovers Josh and Joe from Video Dropbox to reopen The Neverending Story and celebrate the memorable Wolfgang Petersen movie's 40th anniversary. They follow little bullied Bastian and model tween Atreyu into the world of Fantasia, where there are Swamps of Sadness, sexy Sphinxes, and lots of amazing '80s practical effects. They discuss the trilogy of films, rave about the Limahl theme song, and wonder what even is Moon Child? 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Straw Hut Media.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Hey film fans, welcome to another episode of Release Date Rewind,
a podcast that celebrates milestone anniversaries in film. We're going
on a journey to Fantasia in this episode, and it's
gonna make all your eighties fantasies come true. I'm your host,
Mark J. Parker, a movie maker and a movie lover
like you. So thank you for listening to my show

(00:26):
on the straw Hut Media Network wherever you get your
pods or watching on YouTube. This special movie we're talking
about today just turned forty years old a few weeks ago,
The Never Ending Story, which became a worldwide hit, raking
in one hundred million dollars, having been released in American
theaters on July twentieth, nineteen eighty four. I know it's August.

(00:48):
I'm still talking about July movies. Sorry, it's been a
busy summer, but I'm catching up now. If you need
to watch or rewatch this classic adventure, it's unfortunately not
streaming anywhere in the US with a subscription at the moment,
but you can rent it or maybe borrow it from
your local library, or just find it somewhere random online. Also,
we'll be briefly discussing the sequels in this franchise as well,

(01:11):
so be warned, but no major spoilers. All right, Warriors
and outcasts, hop on my luck dragon, and let's begin
the story because it's time to Rewind. Okay, everybody, I

(01:35):
am so happy to have friends fellow podcasters finally on
release date Rewind. One of them has done a little
bit of like voice cameo work on the show a
couple times, but the other this is his debut. Both
really debut as main guests on release date Rewind. Please
everybody welcome Josh and Joe from Video Dropbox Podcast. Hi boys,

(01:58):
Oh hello, h oh.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
Love so much for inviting us.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Oh my god, of course I feel like you already.
Of course were on my radar. I you know, thankfully
have been on your show for The Rage Carry Too
my choice, now, be honest. Were you both like, oh god,
really when I picked that movie? Or were you like
secretly happy because I feel bad like the Rage Carry Too? Josh,
I feel like you were cool with it. Joe. Really,

(02:23):
I was.

Speaker 3 (02:23):
Excited because I hadn't seen it since I saw it
in theaters, So yeah, I never had been an opportunity
to go back to it. Yeah right, yeah, yeah, it's
really hard for it was a good time for you.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
It's great.

Speaker 4 (02:34):
I mean, it's a really hard it's really hard to
disappoint me when picking a film. I don't think all
the films that Joe and I have covered on our podcast,
I don't know, Joe, was there any that stand out
to you that I just like didn't vibe with too much?

Speaker 3 (02:50):
I feel you're still kind of hesitant on Clifford, but yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
That's the one.

Speaker 4 (02:56):
I think just because I had such a like negative
association with it at a young age when I saw
the movie with Martin Short from the Night.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yeah, I love it, Okay, you just yeah, you have
memories that just aren't good attached to that one.

Speaker 4 (03:09):
I don't know, it's it's a it's like Joe, this
happens with him every now and then where he'll be like,
I don't know, I went into it like this, this
really doesn't seem like my bag. But then there's like
something that we talk about that's like, okay, like I'm
coming around to it. I wouldn't say it's the first
thing I want to put on, but I'm open to, like,

(03:30):
you know, entertaining this again. And I feel the same
way with Clifford. Like I just remember seeing it a
lot on TV and I remember thinking, like, oh.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
Boy, like this movie.

Speaker 4 (03:40):
I was way young, way too young, I think to
appreciate the like dark comedy of it. But something about
Martin Short's performance is being so over the top. I
don't know, like we talked about it on our episode,
but I think there's this whole like culture right now,
like because he's on Only Murders, Yes, Only Murders, where

(04:05):
people are trying to decide if they like his humor
and whether he's actually funny. I think we talked about that, right, Joe.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, interesting.

Speaker 2 (04:12):
I've only seen Only Murder season one. I'm super behind,
but I thought he was. I mean, I'm a I'm
a Martin Short fan, so I'm okay with the really
crazy odd humor. I mean, Clifford, oh my god, I
haven't seen it in years. I need to listen to
your episode because that movie was just so wild. It's
very much like Drop Dead Fred, you know that Beatle Juice,
that era of like really weird she devil, like just

(04:36):
like offbeat strange, you know, late eighties, early nineties humor.

Speaker 4 (04:41):
You know, Yeah, I mean that's the one thing I
did say, like as a positive is like, I mean,
props to them for doing something original, because I can't
imagine I'm trying to green light and produce a movie
like that now, being like, yeah, we're gonna do this
movie where basically it's like this demonic child but it's
a comedy and played by a grown man.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah. Well, boys, tell us anyone who's listening to this show,
who hasn't heard video dropbox, tell us like, how did
you guys come up with the idea? You know, tell
me about your pod.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
Oh well, Joe, Josh and I have known each other
for so long. We were roommates in our early days
of living around Minneapolis, where we're still based, and this
was just an idea to get us back watching movies
you wouldn't otherwise be watching. So now we think of

(05:35):
weird subgenres of films that we challenge each other, challenge
each other to choose one and under a minute. But
then we also have our backup basket pick in case
we can't figure something out. So we've done a lot,
We've done a lot of weird ones and it's it's
given us an array of options.

Speaker 4 (05:53):
I think it's a good way for us to talk
about movies that maybe not necessarily is the like norm
of you know, like there are a lot of movie
chat podcasts out there, and sometimes it's hard to sort
of pick like which ones you want to follow because
you know, like specific movies get talked about a lot,
and depending on your style, you know, you may be like, oh,

(06:17):
I'm fatigued because I don't want to hear about XYZ.
And so this challenge aspect, I think is great because it, like, well,
every now and then pull something out like Clifford. We
were just talking about, like who's thinking, like, oh, I
want to hear an episode on that movie Clifford from
the nineties.

Speaker 2 (06:34):
Like I do, not me, but I don't know about
many others.

Speaker 4 (06:37):
But yes, well it's not the usual pick, you know
what I mean, unless it's celebrating an anniversary or like
it's becoming more you know, like mainstream in the pop culture.

Speaker 3 (06:45):
Well, I think yeah, people also attack it for being
like one of the worst movies because the challenge you
challenged me to choose a film from Siskel and Ebert's
like worst films from like nineteen eighty to nineteen ninety eight.
I think. Yeah, so yeah, I think, And we had
a more positive outlook on the movie than probably normal.

Speaker 4 (07:05):
That was a really hard one too for both of us,
because I have to you know, I challenged him his
job is to pick something within a minute, and if
he doesn't, we default to my pick. Like, I love
like coming up with these challenges because I knew, like
Joe said, we known each other for so long, and
like we joke about this, like when we live together.
Like he had a very specific, like DVD collection and

(07:27):
I had a very specific dv collection that were not similar,
but we had similar interests. So I think you've even
gone on record shoe to say, like the only first
and only time you've ever seen from Justin mc kelly, Yeah,
my DVD collection.

Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yes, Oh my gosh, wow, I love that you own
that on DVD josh wow wow. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (07:49):
I've been obviously we're of a certain age. I mean
I just turned forty one, so I've been collecting DVDs
for a while just because I'm that age group, right,
and I mean I'm at the point where, like a
lot of people have tossed that stuff, but I'm like
I'm kind of at the point of no return where
we have so much stuff, and especially now with like
this podcast, and just like even just socially wanting to

(08:12):
watch stuff that's not always around easily the stream that
you'd right, you know, it kills me to have to
rent or buy something just to watch it when I
have it already. So so yeah, I had a very
specific taste when we were in college, when we were
in one of our video classes, because that's how we

(08:33):
got paired off together. And yeah, I mean, and I've
seen a lot of great films that joe Is suggested.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
I had a lot of the bootleg Asian horror movies
at the time because released yet so right, you had
to really like dig forum.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
Yeah. Back then, I was gonna say, how many years
now have you known each other? It's been at least twenty.

Speaker 3 (08:57):
We're getting there. It's from like eighteen maybe now at
this Yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:01):
I want to say it was two thousand far.

Speaker 3 (09:04):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, two thousand and four. Yeah, I
guess that was wow.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
Okay, twenty years. Wow, look at that anniversary.

Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yeah, have you anniversary Joe.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
Hey, I'd love that that you might be the first
duo to be selling celebrating an anniversary on this show,
so it's perfect. See, there we go. I knew, I
knew there was a reason to bring you guys on
right now for this.

Speaker 3 (09:26):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (09:27):
What's that book about? Oh? This is something special.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
So boys, let's rewind everybody. We are closing a chapter
huh on modern modern stuff or jahr from back in
the two thousands. Now we're going even further back forty
years ago, nineteen eighty four. July nineteen eighty four is
when Never Ending Story came out the twentieth of July.
Here we go. I'm going to tell you guys a
little bit of pop culture stuff that was going on

(09:57):
in the news at this time. Back then, we had
Ray as our president and he was about to get
re elected later in that fall, So a little bit
of political stuff to jog your memory. I thought this
was so interesting because we were I forgot, Joe, were
you alive in eighty four? I was two, so you
were two? Okay, yeah, so two to one. I wasn't
born yet. I was born in eighty seven, so I wasn't.

(10:19):
But I've always heard, as you guys probably have, about
the Vanessa Williams scandal, the Penthouse nude photos that was
happening right at this same time as a never ending
story came out. I thought that was just like fun
little pop culture. She was Miss America and if anyone
out there doesn't know, she was only like in her
early twenties. She was asked to resign, apparently on July twentieth,

(10:43):
because nude photos that she had done a couple of
years earlier in college. Somehow. I don't know the details everything,
but I guess the photographer sold them to Penthouse and
they were going to run with them. Ooh, Miss America's boobs,
and it was this whole big scandal, and so she
was basically forced to resign. But I mean, Vanessa Williams
is pretty badass and pretty amazing, so luckily, you know,

(11:07):
she's good, she's all set. But yeah, so she totally
survived that. Are you kidding? She's and I don't know
if you guys have seen clips or anything, but I
love that she's now playing the Meryl Streep role Miranda
in the Devilwars Prada on stage in London. She's doing
that right now, and I just feel like that's so
perfect for her because of the whole she basically played

(11:27):
that role in Ugly Betty. You know, very diva boss lady,
but yeah, love her. So I just thought that was
really fun, you know. Connection. On the music side, Number
one song was When Doves Cry by Prince. That was
a big deal. His movie was about to come out
a week or two right after this. I think it

(11:47):
was a week after, so he was definitely having a
big moment at this time. Number two song Dancing in
the Dark by Springsteen with the music video with Courtney Cox.
That was a big thing. Number three song the Ghostbusters
song because Ghostbusters had come out a month prior, was
number one for weeks and weeks, so of course everyone
was singing that song by Ray Parker Jr. Other popular

(12:09):
movies Ghostbusters, Gremlins, Muppets Take Manhattan, The Karate Kid the Original,
and The Revenge of the Nerds came out the same
day as a never Ending Story, so two very different
movies out at the summer box office. So that's a
little bit to set the scene to maybe jog your memory.
I mean, you boys were babies, you didn't really know

(12:30):
what was going on just yet, but for anyone out there,
that's what was happening. When the Never Ending Story comes
soaring into us theaters. It had come out in Germany
and April, I believe, but you know now it was
coming over here in Canada.

Speaker 6 (12:44):
What is the secret of this enchanted book? What wonders
are hidden within its pages? What magical spell does it
cast on all who read it? What is the secret
of the never Ending Story?

Speaker 2 (13:03):
In your own words? And it's always fun when I
have two guests, we can like go back and forth.
One of you can start, one of you can finish,
but in your own words. For anyone out there who
doesn't know the never Ending Story, how sad but or
maybe needs a refresher, what's it about? What happens? What's
your little like?

Speaker 1 (13:19):
You know?

Speaker 2 (13:20):
One minute synopsis? Who wants to start? Oh boy, I'll
go that's okay, Joe, and then throw it over to
Josh whenever you want.

Speaker 3 (13:27):
Yeah. Well, we have a little bullied bastion running away
into a bookstore finding a special fantasy book, and he goes,
of all places, to his school's attic and starts reading
this fantastical adventure and breaks down the fourth wall eventually

(13:50):
and gets sucked into it himself. And it's all about
how reading is good and Face your Fears, and it's
kind of weird. A lot of weird creatures, a lot
of weird design, definitely weird.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
It's definitely really weird. Absolutely, Yeah, I love that Face
your Fears read books. What's another message they say? I
feel like Dad is very like put your feet on
the ground, son, like, get your head out of the clouds.
But then maybe don't listen to Dad. Maybe keep your
head in the clouds, because then you go on these
amazing adventures. Right, gosh, anything you want to add to

(14:24):
that great synopsis.

Speaker 4 (14:27):
Well, for a kid's book and movie, it definitely has
some depth to it that as an adult, I feel
like you would pick up rather than a child. I mean,
one of the lines I wrote down that was like
really like I did not remember this context at all
was people with no hopes are easy to control. Those
who control hold the power. And I just found that

(14:50):
really interesting, especially with everything politically what's happening.

Speaker 1 (14:55):
And so.

Speaker 4 (14:57):
Yeah, it's just a really interesting movie.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Will be right back.

Speaker 5 (15:06):
This book is not for you.

Speaker 4 (15:10):
Some really dark moments throughout, but I I just remember
the fantastic quality to this movie because on our podcast
we covered too because Joe and I are big fans
of Johnathan Brandis.

Speaker 2 (15:23):
Oh all r P, what a kid? What Oh my god,
I've talked about ladybugs on this show. I mean, he
just could do no wrong. I love that you guys
talked about the sequel. I haven't seen that in years,
and I know that's even I think that's even weirder
because we're with the the Fantasia like people a little
bit more right, or at least that's just what I
would have with the moment.

Speaker 3 (15:43):
Yeah, yeah, he's there more. And then his dad, John
Wesley Ship starts reading the book.

Speaker 1 (15:49):
Ye Dawson's creak shout out.

Speaker 2 (15:51):
What a babe, sill such a babe. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (15:53):
Yeah, And I wrote that down to as a note
that I thought John let Wesley's Ship was what much
more charismatic as best his father than whoever played a
metem si.

Speaker 3 (16:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (16:05):
Yeah, he's just very like, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (16:08):
It's very military. Ask like That's why I thought of like, oh,
it's his major dad role, because you're like, yes.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
Right, and it's exactly you know. Let me have my
really awful, disgusting like egg in orange juice or whatever
that drink is. Oh my god, even as a kid,
I was like, I don't think he should be doing
that with the egg. But it's interesting because they cast
him when this is mostly like a German film. You know,

(16:35):
they shot it in Munich most of it, I believe,
and the director, of course uh is German. But you
would think, like, it's not like the dad's that important.
He's really just in one scene, right, But then they
have that actor come in and yeah, it's kind of interesting,
but no, I agree. I'm glad John Wesley Ship has
more to do. He's more charismatic. And then there's the

(16:57):
third one with oh my gosh, the Jason James Richter
is that his name from Free Willy, But that one
I don't remember as well. Did you guys talk about
that on yours?

Speaker 4 (17:06):
We did talk about it because I watched it because
I've been wanting to see forever because I used to
have a huge crush on him back in freequ and
he I was like excited. I'm like, okay, I dig
this whole like Bond thing that they're doing with the Bashian,
you know, as he's aging. And then it's obviously notoriously

(17:27):
known as one of the worst movies, one of men
the worst movies I've ever made, but I you know,
I don't take that to heart. I mean, for God's sakes,
I owned and saw from Justin Kelly in theaters when
it came out, so I was like not afraid of it.
And I was like, oh, you know, the Jim Henson
Creature Factory like did a lot of the props.

Speaker 1 (17:46):
Like this sounds really cool on paper.

Speaker 4 (17:48):
It's all about how the bullies take control of Warren
and then like somehow mess up and bring some of
the Fantasia folks into the real world. And so I'm like,
this is really interesting concept.

Speaker 7 (18:00):
I saw it.

Speaker 4 (18:00):
I was just it was really unbearable. There's a whole
like rock fider song where he's singing, Oh God, what's.

Speaker 1 (18:08):
That looking for?

Speaker 5 (18:09):
This?

Speaker 1 (18:10):
Born to be Wild?

Speaker 4 (18:10):
Born to be Wild? It's really it's pretty unbearable.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
Wow. Do you know we're two and three released in theaters?

Speaker 3 (18:22):
Two was three?

Speaker 2 (18:23):
Wasn't Three was probably direct? Yeah, they were like video. Yeah. Interesting.
I haven't seen either of them in years, but I
really at least need to rewatch too, because I remember
it was it was pretty good. Out of the three.
Would you would you say is one your favorite or
is two your favorite? Three obviously is not how would
you rank.

Speaker 3 (18:43):
Him choose mine? I wanted Jonathan Brandis to be my
best friend as a kid like that. That was what
my nostalgia goes to. And that because in the first one,
I'm more interested in are you and his journey, I
don't really care about bashion, But in two, it's like

(19:05):
I want to be bashed and getting stuck into this
world like that seems more like a quote unquote realistic
scenario that like, I'm in the real world and that's
how we get to the fantasy world. I can't start
there because obviously this isn't it. Uh So I always
have a soft spot for that.

Speaker 4 (19:20):
Yeah, yeah, I love that same I always like to better.
I was just waiting to hear what Joe was gonna say,
because that was one of the things we had a
guest on that episode, and he was he actually selected
it because he said he had very selective memories of
never ending story too. And then after we had watched it,
he's like, okay, so I was thinking in the first one.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
I don't remember this at all.

Speaker 4 (19:43):
And he didn't like it as much as we did,
which is fine. You know, we respect everyone's opinions. To
their own personal taste.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
You're like, get off the show. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (19:53):
Yeah, but we, Joe and I are so aligned in that.
I mean we talk a lot about Jonathan Brandis's work
and how he's taken two soon, and like we're huge
fans of the movie Sidekicks.

Speaker 2 (20:02):
Which is such a deeps so good. Yeah, it's so
much fun, yeah.

Speaker 1 (20:08):
All of it. And so.

Speaker 4 (20:11):
It's yeah, it's just a shame that we lost him,
and and just even the things that I had heard
about how he was up for he got he tried
out for the role of Anakin Skywalker in the Star
Wars episode two.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
I think it would have probably been then, right, Oh wow,
he was too young.

Speaker 3 (20:33):
That had to be right around the same time.

Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah, let me see, because I thought he Yeah, I
guess he didn't pass away until the early two thousand
thousand and three, So two thousand and three, wow, yeah,
right around that time. Then wow, what's his name? Christians?

Speaker 3 (20:51):
Like you said he'd done a war movie too, but
then his part got completely cut out. I forget that.

Speaker 2 (20:57):
I remember hearing something about that or yeah, wow, I
know what a what a guy? And I remember Sequest
was fun that show he did. Yeah wow, I know
he was.

Speaker 3 (21:07):
An it the mini the original mini series.

Speaker 2 (21:10):
Yeah, of course, like some iconic iconic stuff like what
a star like nowadays? Who would be like the Jonathan
Brandis like or like like teens? I don't even know
I have.

Speaker 4 (21:23):
A type, so I say I I would say I
have an attraction to problematic stars and whether you they
are like problematics kind of a loose term. But when
I grew up, like I love Jonathan Brandis and brad
Renfro like those are my two and he's another one

(21:44):
we lost too soon due to complicated personal things. So
I would probably say, maybe he's not a teen anymore.
But my equivalence in my mind right away goes to
my number three. Here's the trifect. Are you ready for this?

Speaker 1 (21:57):
Shilah buff who wow wow? Do not like?

Speaker 4 (22:01):
But I just from day one it was like love.
I was just like, yeah, I love to explain it.
I just yeah, I mean so attracted. But I would
never within no, not ever, ever, ever try to interact
with him because I don't feel like any punch in
the face.

Speaker 2 (22:17):
So I know, yeah, not so much now, but maybe
like ten years ago, I think that would have still
been a great choice. But then now he's doing that,
he's in that Francis Ford Coppola. Really yeah, that's interesting, right, yeah, wow,
Which I was.

Speaker 4 (22:35):
Just gonna say, we were this close. They were saying rumors.
I don't know if you were calling me by your name, fan,
but apparently he was supposed to be the Army Hammer
role and dropped out. That's what I had read somewhere
a long time ago, which I You're.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
Like, at all, I could have had it all.

Speaker 2 (22:55):
Well, you know what's still funny even if he so
he dropped out. He was like he was basically like.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
What I remember reading. I don't know.

Speaker 4 (23:01):
I can't have I don't have any facts to back
that up. But interesting article about how he was.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
Do you think he and Armie Hammer around the same age,
because Armi Hammer just always has seemed so old. But
maybe they are.

Speaker 4 (23:13):
I don't they are. I think he's I think he
is older. So that's why I just because he wouldn't
have played the Timothy Chellney.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
No, he's way too old for that.

Speaker 2 (23:22):
But wow, Well I do remember the sea video that
he did like ten years ago. Oh gosh, oh, I
remember that elect Elastic Heart. Yeah, man, that was when
he was like, look, real good, real good. So I
get it, Josh, I totally get it, not now, but
back then. Okay, Wow, Well I just had to go
on a little Shia labuff. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (23:41):
I'm sorry to keep straying.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
From Wow, but no, I'm glad you brought up brad
Renfro because I was really figuring out how to like, yeah,
maybe if you guys ever want to talk about it
on your show sometime, just saying, but I was trying
to figure out, like, how do I fit it in
this month? And I just couldn't. The client brad Renfro's like, Dave,
do you remember that one?

Speaker 6 (24:03):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (24:03):
Yeah, so movies from the mid nineties, so.

Speaker 2 (24:07):
It's legal thrillers in the nineties, Pelican breathe, Oh my god, yes, so.

Speaker 1 (24:13):
Right.

Speaker 5 (24:14):
It was midnight in the howling forest, the wind whistled
through the tops of the ancient trees. Suddenly something enormous
crashed and rumbled through the ear he would.

Speaker 2 (24:31):
I love this movie so much. It is but I
realize and I'll say it right now, and I say
this often on the show, especially this movie. I love
it so much because there is so much personal nostalgia
attached to it, you know, Whereas if I, like somehow
missed it, like I think my husband Greg, I'm pretty
sure he's never seen it, and I'm like what, But
you know, if I was that kid that missed it

(24:53):
and saw it later, I don't know if I would
love it this much. But I mean my dad and
I would like dance to the theme song and the
end credits, like it was like this bumping like never
you know. So it's like nothing but great memories. And
rewatching it the other night on the big screen for
the for the anniversary re release, I mean just seeing

(25:14):
it on a big screen. I had never seen it
that big before, so like wow, you know, but but
it it definitely is not a perfect film, especially and
maybe you guys knew this, Like I guess you know,
it was cut for an American audience. I guess it
was you know, tinkered with, and some of those cuts,
some of the flow is not so good. Would you agree, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:37):
That's a little clunky.

Speaker 3 (25:38):
That's kind of I just kind of tacked it as
like it was the eighties because I feel like you
go back to a lot of classics and you're like, ooh,
this is.

Speaker 5 (25:46):
Right.

Speaker 3 (25:47):
You really didn't know what had transitions some scenes, You're.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
Right, it's just rewatching Ghostbusters for this show. Some of
those transitions, I'm just like, like, the line is barely
done and we're cutting to the I'm like, oh, you know,
so you're right. Maybe it was just in nineteen eighty four, like,
you know, let's get to it right.

Speaker 6 (26:05):
You will enter a world where a young boy's imagination
becomes a vivid reality.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
I'll start with you, Joe. When was the first time
you saw the original Never Ending Story?

Speaker 3 (26:15):
Do you remember?

Speaker 2 (26:16):
Were you young?

Speaker 3 (26:17):
I had to be pretty young. I mean I had
seen it before the second one, so it had to
be in that later eighties. You know. I wouldn't have
seen it in theaters, but on VHS. I just can
imagine seeing that box art where you have the little
pictures of all the creatures drawn. It's just so enthralling.

(26:39):
So it had to be around then, and I don't
think it was really one of those movies. Like for
a while, Princess Bride was my favorite movie around the
time it came out, but for years I did not
know what the title of it was. And it was
only as an adult that I'm like, oh, not only
is this the movie everybody knows it. Everybody saw it

(27:00):
when I did, but Never Any Story like that was
a that was the title. I mean that was probably
also helped by Never Any Story Too and getting into that.
So this this was I feel like, when I can
go into like what my favorite movies were as I
was growing up. This kind of uh is probably right
after the grouping of the Don Bluth films, Like I

(27:20):
was so into Secret and Nim and all those eighties
animated and then this fits right in there too as
a bridge into you know, the early nineties and Never
Any Story Too, and then going up from there.

Speaker 2 (27:32):
Yeah, totally, I love that. How about you, Josh, do
you remember when you might have seen this were you?
Were you in it as a kid?

Speaker 4 (27:40):
Definitely, just like Joe, I saw it at a young age.
I just can't remember the specifics. But I have a
brother who's seven years old older than me, so it's
possible that as I was growing up maybe we owned
it because I definitely either saw it on VHS or
like at a sleepover, because I mean, over culture in
the eighties was in the nineties was huge, So I

(28:03):
want to say it was between one of those two.
But one thing I don't know if I mentioned to Joe.
So when we were moving sorry, when we were living together,
he works worked at this movie theater called the Uptown
where they did midnight movies and this was one of them,
and I remember going I'll see it at the time

(28:23):
and getting a kick out of the audience reactions and
just seeing it on the big screen like you did, Mark.

Speaker 2 (28:28):
So that's awesome.

Speaker 4 (28:30):
I'm interested to see because that was back in two thousands.
I want to know, if you don't mind me asking before,
tell me that jd like your experience.

Speaker 1 (28:39):
What was the.

Speaker 4 (28:41):
General reaction for people, because I'm just like dying to know,
like what gen z like people that didn't grow up
with a nostalgia like we did think of this movie.
If they're just like boring, or if they're just like
scary or.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
Fake you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (28:55):
Yes, I wish I had a great answer for you,
but get this. I was one of only three people
in the theater.

Speaker 3 (29:01):
Oh no.

Speaker 2 (29:03):
There were two showings, and the first one it was
seven and seven fifteen. It was like one of those
situations and I'm like, which one am I gonna do?
The seven was pretty much packed, and I was like, oh,
Normally I hate that. Normally I am not a guy
like back in the day. But now I just don't
want to hear any of that. I don't want to
see phones, you know, so normally, but for this, I

(29:25):
was like, that could be really fun, but I couldn't
make it in time. So I was like, I'll just
do the seven fifteen and then when I get there,
I'm like, oh, because I didn't really have a chance
to look at the seating. I was like, it's just
me and a dad and a little girl. So he
he was like me, he was going for nostalgia. This
little girl really didn't care. She was not that she
was like annoying or distracting, but like moving around a

(29:46):
little bit. I'm like, okay, you gotta, you gotta. This
is respect, respect a good movie. Okay, little girl, and
sit down. So sadly, I don't have a good answer
for you. It was a very quiet audience, but I
mean I was dancing in my seat. Are in the
credits you know they left they booked it. I think
he was like, all right, I've seen I've heard the
song a million times. I'm going so yeah, it was.

(30:07):
But also where I live in southern Maine and I
go to a theater often right across the bridge in Portsmouth,
New Hampshire. It's not a major movie going area. Like
people are like, I'll just wait a few months to
see it on streaming. So it's kind of good for
me because I'm like, great long legs, like very few
people are here, Okay, cool? You know, like what did

(30:27):
I see Abigail a couple months ago? And I loved it.
I was like one of maybe five people. And this
was like a couple of days after release, So you know,
it's it's not a big go to the movie group,
at least when I go maybe Friday night, but I don't.

Speaker 1 (30:41):
Think that's the best.

Speaker 4 (30:42):
The only time I can say that I've seen a
movie alone in theaters was back in the day when
I was young, and like my dad went to see
Jurassic Park and I went to see Super Mario Brothers
movie and I was.

Speaker 1 (30:53):
The only one in the movie theater.

Speaker 2 (30:57):
I love that so much.

Speaker 3 (30:58):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (30:58):
Yeah, talk about a wild movie.

Speaker 6 (31:04):
The World to Betray You and our text a rock
Bier and the good and kind Gnome.

Speaker 2 (31:11):
Yeah, they don't make them like that anymore, even from
this to like Super Mario, like all these kind of
wacky but but super unique, you know, because like a
movie like this, now, it wouldn't I mean, Falcore would
never look so lifelike. It'd be all cgi'd be you
know what I'm saying, Like it would it could still
look nice, but it wouldn't look so kind of gonzo strange,

(31:36):
like I'm in I'm watching a dream. Do you know
what I mean? Do you agree?

Speaker 1 (31:40):
Yeah? Go ahead, Joe.

Speaker 3 (31:42):
Oh, Well, like this is such a kind of lesson
in existentialism, uh that I don't see a movie like
this for the audience it's aiming for going that dark.
I guess I didn't see whatever that Charlie Kaufman Netflix
animated movie was that came out a few months ago,
either orin or I don't know, but I feel typically

(32:05):
you don't kind of get this, like hey kids, nihilism.

Speaker 4 (32:08):
So yeah, I made a note that like one of
the reasons I love these kind of movies, like the
Return to Oz Never Ending Story, the Labyrinth, all that
is just like those practical effects, the like world that
they build, the paintings, like everything to me looks so
much more interesting. And then like this one specifically, I

(32:30):
think that's the difference between one and two is like,
there are more things in this movie that I'm like,
I could see younger kids being scared of some of
the visuals because there's that scene.

Speaker 1 (32:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (32:40):
Well yeah, of course the swamp scenes obviously, which we'll
talk about, but yeah, but the one thing that I
was getting a kick out of was that scene at
the Ivory Tower when everyone's gathered and there's those weird
heads and their like eyes are blinking and their mouths
are moving and they're moving around.

Speaker 2 (32:55):
I'm just like a lot of them, but like and
like the people, like not the giant heads. And then
there are also just regular sized people that have multiple
faces that don't really move. Like there's just a shot
of a couple of people just sitting there still with
these and I'm like, yeah, yeah, I agree. It's definitely
super spooky at times for kids and even adults. Right,

(33:16):
And like you said, Gomork the wolf whoa like hardcore,
those eyes and and just the like puppetry of it moving, Yeah,
it's so gorgeous.

Speaker 3 (33:26):
Yeah. I don't know if like newer audience is going
to it as like, eh, looks like the puppet it's faked,
and like I don't know this is super effective for
me totally, and who knows, maybe that's because we saw
this at a young age that it will always be
like effective because it was when we were kids, you know,
like the people who grew up on Jim Henson.

Speaker 4 (33:45):
There were times when I even thought, like I remember
this as a kid, thinking like Falcore was kind of
scary for being like a hero character.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
And one of the.

Speaker 4 (33:54):
Things to me that Dan age well was. And I
remember this when I saw it in the theater screening
at Joe's screen theater that he worked at years ago.
Is like his first line when he wakes up is
like I like children, just like the way he like
says it and moves really slow and has kind of
creepy cadence. You're just like, oh, I don't see I

(34:16):
get I get it.

Speaker 1 (34:17):
It's a kid's movie. But no, that wont does to
land so well.

Speaker 2 (34:21):
For Breakfast, Yeah, I hear you. I know, it's definitely
a little strange and and I mean, Falcur it's so
funny growing up, and especially when I was at the
age where I was like watching this movie on repeat.
It was definitely one of the VHS tapes that I
would rewind as soon as it was done our dog
Buffy before Buffy the show, so like I don't know,

(34:41):
I don't know if they were like copying us or what.
And the movie, but Buffy looks so much like Falcore,
like blonde, long, super furry, you know, cute little face
that like, oh my god, it's just I loved Falcur,
so I was never scared. But the what an interesting
like luck drag creature to be furry and cute and

(35:03):
a dog, but then have the scales, you know, so
like again like what a weird, wacky, interesting design. I mean,
I never read the book that this is based on
the German novel from nineteen seventy nine. Did you guys
ever try to check out the book or anything?

Speaker 3 (35:19):
I tried once and didn't really get into it. I
want to give it another shot though, after I was
reading the synopsis of that to compare it to the movie,
and because it's only like the movie covers the first
half and the second half of the book is kind
of the second movie, but just the description makes it
sound more interesting that it delves into like once he

(35:40):
saves Fantasia, then he gets the wishes and they don't
really do this in the never any story too. But
he's wishing all these creatures for him to fight, but
he's inadvertently like these things are destroying fantagious or they're like, oh,
these wishes aren't such a good idea, Like, oh, that's
a good inversion of the kind of hero trope.

Speaker 4 (35:57):
But hm, I've thought about checking it out too now
because based on our coverage and then doing some research
for this episode, I just one of the big topics
that we talked about was the author's you know, opinion
on the movie and how he veheomly like hated this
and then that's what caused the production delay. And two

(36:18):
because they were in like a lawsuit at the time
and he lost. That's how they eventually rolled it out.
But I just for someone to hate it so much,
I'm like, well, I feel like I need to see,
like what his original vision is because a lot of people,
like when they weighed in on it, the you know,
the director of this film, the.

Speaker 1 (36:40):
You know, creative.

Speaker 4 (36:40):
Team, they basically make it to sound like he was
just hurt that it didn't go the direction he wanted.
But I'm like, but it's also a beloved kid's movie
now or film now and I'm not downplaying children children's stories,
but I'm like, it's a kid's story, Like I don't
think you need to be that intensely like passionate about

(37:04):
Like it's not exactly you know what I mean. It's
not like Stephen King Stanley Kubrick, like that movie's garbage.
Like okay, fine, you're adults, you know, they're very specific
examples of what's not like the same. But yeah, like
you know, it was eighty four. They did the best
they could, and they had to kind of, like you

(37:24):
were saying, edit it for American audiences.

Speaker 2 (37:27):
No shade at all to the author and to children's
books and children's movies. But yeah, I mean, how deep
can it rarely get, you know, whereas when you're an adult,
you know, maybe you can get really deep, you know. So,
but I took it as like doing some research. I
guess he was not only the author but also was

(37:48):
hired to be like kind of co writer, script consultant,
and so I guess the script was like written, but
then Wolfgang Peterson and team like then rewrote it without
him knowing. So have been more of like a betrayal
kind of thing, rather more more that than the movie itself.
The final product sucks. It's more like how dare you?

(38:08):
You know? But yeah, I didn't think about that how
the sequel, because the sequel came out in nineteen ninety.
I was just looking up. So yeah, the lawsuit must
have slowed that down. I wonder if they wanted to
try to get that out sooner, you know, probably, right.

Speaker 4 (38:22):
I bet they do, because again I read similar to Joe,
like the second chapter or whatever, that where the movie
is supposed to pick up the events of the book. Apparently,
like one fashion flies to Fantasia, it's supposed to go
like right into that story right away about how he's
making all those wishes, et cetera. So I mean that's

(38:43):
where the movie differs because it's like a couple of
years later, time has passed and I don't remember he
goes back to the bookstore.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
Is that?

Speaker 3 (38:51):
What is?

Speaker 1 (38:51):
It takes the book because.

Speaker 3 (38:52):
It's clearly unhappy Coreyander's the only character that remains the same.
He crosses over from the first movie.

Speaker 2 (38:58):
So that's right. Oh interesting, Okay.

Speaker 1 (39:01):
Yeah, here I was my kids.

Speaker 2 (39:04):
Yeah, do we know why Barrett Oliver didn't come back?
I mean, Jonathan Brandis was more of a thing, you know,
but do we do you know why the same actors
didn't return.

Speaker 3 (39:17):
I wonder if they were just getting older at that point.

Speaker 1 (39:19):
That was my guess.

Speaker 2 (39:20):
Yeah, maybe maybe. Yeah, right, that's true. That's a good point.

Speaker 3 (39:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (39:26):
Wow, Well, let me let me pause that and let
me tell you just a little bit about just our
main leads and our director Wolfgang Peterson, just where they
were in their careers at this time. And then I
want to jump into our favorite or least favorite scenes moment.
So we talked about the novel. At the time of
the release of this film, it was the most expensive
film produced outside of the US or the Soviet Union

(39:48):
at the time. I thought that was pretty interesting. So
director and co writer Wolfgang Peterson, this was his first
English language film. He had previously directed the film Dos Boot,
which I've always heard about I've never seen. Have you
guys ever seen?

Speaker 1 (40:01):
No?

Speaker 3 (40:01):
Yeah, I remember being good. I mean it was yeah,
back in the day when it was harder to get
those foreign releases at the video store, you could always
rely on Dasputo because, yes, popular one.

Speaker 2 (40:12):
Right, that was a popular one. I know, I've seen
like the cover at exactly a video stores, and I
never saw it. So but then it's so interesting because
this really opened doors for him in the US because
then he's directing Air Force one, Troy. All these big
movies maybe not so great. I mean Troy was sort
of a dud, but you know, big action movies. There

(40:33):
were even more than now I can't even think of.
But so that's Wolf getting Peterson. I'll talk about our
two actors, Barrett Oliver, who, as we know, plays I
like how Joe said, little what did you say, Little Something,
Little Bully Bashi. I love it, LBB little Bully Bashian.
I love if you guys. Remember also in eighty four later,

(40:53):
what a year for him? He was in Franken Weeny
the short, the Tim Burton short that aired on TV.
So how fun was Shell of all Our Rip and
Daniel Stern. So I just love how he had like
such a great nineteen eighty four between these two movies
that I just loved as a kid. But he had
previously done lots of TV, The incredible Hulk, Night Rider,
Noah Hathaway, Oh my gosh, a tray you like you

(41:15):
were saying, guys, like the real star of the movie,
A tray you looking beautiful with this hair. I mean, like,
what a little model this kid. Oh my god, although
at times, especially rewatching it the other night as an adult,
I'm like, Okay, his shirts just open a little too much.
This is like I know he's like a warrior, but

(41:36):
you know, I don't know. It just just felt so
eighties to be like, yeah, whatever, I feel like now,
like we'd cover him up a little bit more. You know.

Speaker 4 (41:43):
I was surprised to like how much they beat the
hell out of that character. I mean, yes, it's an actor,
and I'm sure he had done doubles, but like just
all the like blood on his arms, and he was
all muddy like covered heage toe and mud like hit
that on him, Like uh huh was crazy.

Speaker 2 (42:00):
I was really thinking of like his long those long
locks covered in mud and he's whipping it like all
around his face, his eyes. I'm like, geez, yeah, I
know he really went that tree, Yeah, all the trees?

Speaker 1 (42:11):
Does that look like him?

Speaker 4 (42:12):
It looked like it was actually him, like flying backwards,
and I thought I saw an interview with the grown
Noah now saying like yeah that was I was being
thrown out of the tree and thrown off the shell
and all that so.

Speaker 2 (42:24):
My god, amazing. I mean, geez, yeah, something seems kind
of wrong with all that action for a kid, but
I mean he did it so well. And the amount
of times growing up I pretended to be a tray
you in that tree scene where the wind's really blowing
him the nothing and like holding on, I just would
like go around the house and be like, no, I

(42:46):
just I was that kid.

Speaker 1 (42:48):
But no.

Speaker 2 (42:49):
So he had also done some good TV. He was
in the original Battlestar Galactica movie and the first TV
show he had just done a comedy with Goldie Hank
called best Friends. So it's because these kids. This was
the first movie I saw with these kids. But it's
just funny to kind of look back and be like, oh, no,
you guys were already like pretty established, pretty in demand,
you know. And this was before Noah did Troll a

(43:12):
couple of years after.

Speaker 3 (43:15):
His name is Harry Potter Junior.

Speaker 2 (43:17):
That's right it yeah, yeah, So those are our leads.
And one thing I just have to say bringing it
back to VHS, so this I don't know exactly how
old I was. I was definitely a kid. It might
might have been a late eight well, it must have
been the early nineties by the time, I was really
like replaying this a lot. But this was on a

(43:37):
VHS tape that we probably probably must have recorded from
either like HBO or like pay per view back then
or I don't even know. I guess I don't know,
but it was a VHS tape, and I always associated
the end of the movie with the theme song and
and Bastion's now getting back at the bullies and all
that fun stuff. I always associate it with, randomly Poltergeist

(43:58):
three because as the song and the credits faded or
the next thing that we had recorded on this VHS
tape was Poltergeist three. So totally random. Nothing really more
to say there, but I just had to kind of
give out, give a shout out to Poulter guyst three
in the hotel or apartment building, whatever they're in. I
know it's not because that, and if I was in

(44:22):
a certain mood, i'd be like, Okay, I'll watch this again,
but like you know, I just remember, like the beginning
kind of freaked me out as a kid, So I
was like, oh no, no, I want to rewind before
we get to Poltergeist three. So just have to shout
out that out because there I am watching it on
the big screen and I'm thinking, like, oh my god,
why do I keep envisioning Carol Anne. I'm like, it's
because that VHS tape that we recorded. So anyway, a

(44:45):
little fun fact there, Hey, Rewinders, hope you're loving this
episode as much as I am. Don't forget to leave
a rating or review for the show on your favorite
podcast app or a thumbs up on YouTube. So every
good story needs a little cameo from a fun character.
So I invited my dad, Mark J. Parker, the first
who showed me this great movie when I was a kid,

(45:07):
and I asked him to send his thoughts on why.
He also loves the never Ending Story, so here he is.

Speaker 7 (45:14):
Regarding the never Ending Story. I found the sphinxes to
be the most compelling. You better be worthy, you better
be confident, you better be a believer to get past now.
They were the gold sphinxes. There are blue ones later

(45:34):
on at the next gate. Another very compelling moment I
found was Bastion shedding tears over the death of our
attacks a tray Who's horse. I thought that was very
compelling and a powerful moment. Now does a tray you
get stuck in the swamps of sadness and Falcour saves him. Yes,

(46:02):
that was a very very intense scene. A Trace says,
if we're going to die, I'd rather die fighting the
childlike princess talking and looking straight into the camera as
if it was talking straight to Bastian. I thought that
was very good. So overall, I think the script, the casting,

(46:23):
the music, and the cinematography were spot on to make
this a classic, almost as good as The Wizard of Oz. Yes,
it's that good.

Speaker 6 (46:38):
A world that is vast and deturned, treacherous and das,
unforgettable and free.

Speaker 2 (46:50):
Let's talk about some key scenes from Never Ending Story
that you feel are iconic, that are memorable to you,
or that really are pretty weak or actually kind of
cringe Like, it doesn't matter where we start, doesn't matter, Josh,
do you want to take the lead. What's a scene
that you want to talk about from the Never Ending
Story that really hits you.

Speaker 4 (47:08):
I think the one that everybody the first thing that
comes to mind when they think about this movie is
a swamp of sadness. I have to just get that
out of the way, because clearly, like there are those
memes that you know we see that are saying like,
where did your childhood trauma begin? And it's a picture
of a tray you holding, like trying to pull the
horse out of the swamp. But yeah, I would say

(47:31):
definitely that is number one for me. I don't want
to be too on the nose, but.

Speaker 2 (47:36):
Oh no, I mean yeah, it's devastating. It's awful. And
also just like thinking about just the actual physicality, like
we like we're saying kid in the mud, horse and
the mud getting deeper and deeper, so already it's like ooh,
and then yeah, this are attacks. Oh my god, it's
and the way it's cut, the more the more he's sinking.

(47:57):
We're kind of going back and forth, so it's a
little you know, the tension is growing. And then again
going back to the strange pacing. Maybe I guess I
don't know if maybe in the original cut, I hope
they didn't show the horse going under, but like it
just sort of abruptly cuts to like a fade, you know,
as a trio is screaming our tacks like oh devastating,

(48:20):
and then we we fade back in and he's just
there alone, Like that's awful. That's dark, right, what do
you think about that show?

Speaker 3 (48:31):
I gotta say so, uh oh, it's it's a it's
a great scene. It's very well put together. I can
never say like it had like that deep traumatic impact
on me because I was way too distracted by the
Swamp of Sadness itself. The mud in that like that's

(48:54):
like no mud I've seen in a movie before, Like
the way that a tray is like going through and
has all the mud on him, and like I wanted
to be a tray you in the Swamp of Sadness.
That seemed like fun, like just like yeah, yeah, I'll
go meet whatever, the ancient one and hang on trees
and whatever. Marila, that heart always felt more uh more

(49:17):
exciting than yeah, oh, I mean we haven't known that
horse for that long. That happens like a half an
hour into the movie.

Speaker 4 (49:25):
I was surprised and shocked, like how fast it Yeah,
Like I when I was watching this again, I was.

Speaker 1 (49:30):
Like, oh god, it's we're here already.

Speaker 2 (49:32):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (49:33):
But it makes sense based on the story because you're like, oh, well, yeah,
you got to get rid of the horse for him
to continue the journey to meet everybody like meat Falcore.

Speaker 2 (49:41):
Yeah, you're so right exactly. Yeah, and I'm the same
I totally agree, Josh, and I was the same way
rewatching it. Just the other day. I was like, whoa,
we are moving so fast. These big memories I had
from this movie. I did not realize they are like
basically back to back.

Speaker 1 (49:55):
You know.

Speaker 2 (49:56):
All right, Well Joe is anti attacks got it great,
it works, But I am the same way. I loved
like the quicksand stuff so like it is kind of
fun and it's thrilling, but yeah, jeez, it just takes
a turn. It's like the Fuick Sands stuff in uh
whatever that the forest was in Princess Bride Jesus Bread.

Speaker 3 (50:16):
I was just like, I want to get I want
to get sucked into that. That seems so fun.

Speaker 1 (50:19):
You're disappointed? Is that your thing?

Speaker 4 (50:21):
Joe like knows on our podcast, Like I always talk
about like I grew up like always wanting like a
secret passageway in a house, or like a trick like
trapdoor that shot you down on like a slide, like
Goonies when they're on the water slide. There's some stuff
in Rainbow Brighton Stars Dealer that we just watch the movie.
Tails the movie, there's always like weird slide thing that

(50:42):
I like love. So maybe Joe's secret thing is to
like be getting quicksand saying it get pulled out.

Speaker 1 (50:48):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (50:48):
And it's so funny. Speaking of the Goonies, the school
attic which I'm like all the spider wrabs like this
is is the school like actually like a school for witches?
Like what's going on in this attic? But but it
totally brought me back to the Goonies, which was a
year later, Like especially when the kids are up there,
you know, one eyed Willie, Like it just feels like

(51:09):
of that same DNA. And what's the other movie? I
was just, oh the Mud, that whole sequence with Morla,
who I always loved the turtle. She always made me
laugh with the sneezing or I say she, but I
don't know whatever it but that really brings me back
to another wild, weird fantasy of this time. Because you
were just mentioning returned to oz Labyrinth all these movies.

(51:31):
I was thinking of Legend. Do you guys remember Legend
with Tom Cruise, Tim Curry? Love it, But there's a
lot of wet mud, you know, some scary goblin people
in that one. So it's it's just fun. How like
this era, the eighties in general, but especially like mid
eighties were just pumping out like pretty iconic for me,

(51:54):
probably for all of us, like fantasy action adventures, you know,
like it was working, All of it was working for me.

Speaker 4 (52:02):
Yeah, I agree, And I'm glad you brought up the
Goony you're saying you were thinking of the Goonies too,
because the other thing that stood out to me was
like I actually didn't realize like how much I love
just the score, Like that scene where I'll tray you
jumps on Falcre's back and they're flying to go I
don't know find I don't remember where they're going. I

(52:24):
think they're trying to get to the corners of Fantasia
to like find the Earthling Boy or whatever, and there's
that like score that just kicks in that's just like
so I don't know, for me, it was really powerful.
But I gave me Goony vibes too for some reason,
because there's like a score in the Goonies that I
couldn't like I can't like tell you a name or anything,

(52:45):
but it gives me sort of like that sort of
whimsical like fun symphony kind of like score vibe that
had in the Goonies. And then considering that this, you know,
Steven Spielberg had a hand than this too. I think
he helped with the edit, right.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
Interesting that I wouldn't be surprised. I feel like he
was involved in every single anything action adventure fantasy of
this era. I feel like, you know, they were calling
him that's interesting.

Speaker 4 (53:13):
Okay, Yeah, I think he had helped consult so they
could cut it to like appeal to American audiences. Because
I found a fun fact that said that at the
end of wrapping he had he was gifted the original Oran,
like the one that's around to tray his necklace. So
whether that's in his home or maybe at the museum
of the Academy whatever, Now, I mean, wow.

Speaker 2 (53:35):
That's pretty cool. Hardon me.

Speaker 6 (53:43):
That was Limes with a dash of court, very tasty.

Speaker 3 (53:50):
It doesn't get talked about as much, so it was
fresher to see it is later on in the movie
when things start falling apart. First, if you have rock
Biters soliloquy about his hands and how they couldn't save
his friends, that that is the low point of the
movie for me. I'm like, that is I'm so depressed
right now.

Speaker 5 (54:11):
They look like big, good, strong hand, don't they.

Speaker 3 (54:20):
And then when he's in what it's called I don't
know if he says it, but it's spook City. That's
where he runs into good work at the end, and
there's those, uh, the wall paintings of his adventure, like
that whole setting is gorgeous and is awesome, like that
whole section.

Speaker 2 (54:36):
Was likely agree. Yeah, we go from sad dark to
like like you you know, like it's so funny rewatching
the paintings and like, you know the story that he's
going through and just knowing like, okay, this is where
the wolf is coming. Like there's dread. There's dread all
throughout that you know, even as a kid, I remembered, like, whoa,

(54:57):
this is getting deep and sad. He says something like they, oh,
they look like good strong yams, don't they? But don't they?

Speaker 4 (55:06):
Is like yeah, god, And he says that twice, doesn't he,
which is really like hitting you over the head, like
oh my god.

Speaker 3 (55:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (55:13):
And meanwhile Foucour is like fly they're separated. He's a
tray you like, it's it's sad, it's bleak man. And
then here comes Gomork, who is so spooky. But now, okay,
here's a little bit of a pet peeve. Huh. I
have a little bit of a criticism in this movie.
I love So you mean to tell me Gomrek like

(55:36):
or maybe I'm just misreading it. Gomork is talking to
a tray.

Speaker 7 (55:39):
You.

Speaker 2 (55:41):
Things are about to go down very quickly, too quickly.
We'll talk about that in a second. But he says
he's looking for this boy, this warrior. I'm like, Gomork
doesn't realize who he's talking to, or does he? And
is he just like playing dumb? Like what do you
guys think of that? Because rewatching him like this, how
do you not know this is a tray?

Speaker 5 (55:59):
You? Right?

Speaker 2 (56:01):
Or am I overthinking it? Because then when he says
I'm a tray you then the like the wolf's you
know wow? Yeah, I'm like, wait, you know.

Speaker 4 (56:10):
Maybe it was supposed to be like wolf like and
he's just tracking tracking a scent and for some reason
he's just not putting two and two together that like
maybe the following until he says it it.

Speaker 3 (56:20):
Was the Mud. The Mud was hiding. Yeah, it's like
a creditor. He can't see it.

Speaker 2 (56:25):
Yeah, yeah, that's Okay, hey, that's a good point. Yeah,
the mud just uh all he could smell is sadness
or something, right, Yeah, I just felt like, hmm, that's weird.
But then my other complaint in that scene is, and
again it's only because I love it so much, like
just the framing of the of the mark in this
kind of like hole and the debris and he dies

(56:46):
so quickly. Whoa yeah, Like, I'm like, okay, I think
you guys overcut that. Like he shoots out and literally
I blinked, and then there was blood on on a
tray's hand. I'm like, whoa, Like did the did the
the film skip?

Speaker 7 (57:02):
Like?

Speaker 2 (57:02):
You know, so it would have been nice to have
a little bit more of a showdown if it was
made today, we would have had like probably a few
battles between them, you know.

Speaker 4 (57:10):
But yeah, he just jumped right on the knife, yes, exactly,
just held it out the piece of jagged whatever, and
you just committed suicide like exactly.

Speaker 2 (57:21):
A train didn't have to do anything. The force of
just go mark on him is like, oh, okay, you know,
so it's a little fast, a little too fast for me.
I never noticed that until now, you.

Speaker 3 (57:33):
Know, I did read that Noah Hathaway was legitimately injured
by the huppin. So maybe they were like, okay, we
gotta cut this.

Speaker 2 (57:42):
Wow Okay, yeah, probably maybe maybe they had to cut
some shots, some coverage from other angles or something. Wow.
I didn't know that, Okay, So I guess there must
have been like some real weight to the puppet. I
guess wow.

Speaker 3 (57:54):
Yeah, it doesn't seem like it. I was looking out
for it.

Speaker 2 (57:56):
But yeah, wow, okay. Yeah. So that's like my own
little dumb complaint is like, oh I want more of
like a you know, showdown, Like is it you're actually
gonna make it?

Speaker 1 (58:05):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (58:05):
Yeah, he makes it very easily. You knows.

Speaker 6 (58:10):
Please you letting send of the swamps? Gette you you
want to try?

Speaker 4 (58:22):
I love you, so despair and depression is what makes
you sink, right when you completely give up in theory,
wouldn't have betray you then started to be super sad
because his horse is gone and start to sink because
he's still there.

Speaker 1 (58:36):
Like that was one of the things.

Speaker 4 (58:37):
That I was like, I'm overthinking this, but also but
I don't know, I'm getting that vibe like he would
be sinking as well because he's like.

Speaker 1 (58:46):
Oh, my god, my horse, Oh my god, I'm going down. Okay, goodbye.

Speaker 2 (58:50):
Yeah, totally, you're right.

Speaker 3 (58:52):
Yeah, like maybe just the mud there he got true,
it only drops so far.

Speaker 2 (58:59):
Yeah, that's really.

Speaker 3 (59:00):
He was standing on the corpse of his horse.

Speaker 1 (59:02):
That's we're going on record.

Speaker 2 (59:10):
Yeah, I'm going to get a complaint from some organization,
is Joe, But uh no, that's a really that's a
really good point. And maybe that's the reason why the
author what's the author's named, Michael, Michael And yeah, y yeah,
maybe that's one of the reasons why he wasn't a fan,
because he's like, this isn't even how it is supposed

(59:32):
to have, you know, I read.

Speaker 3 (59:34):
He he didn't like that Falcore comes into reality because
it was only supposed.

Speaker 2 (59:38):
To go one way.

Speaker 3 (59:39):
So but okay, I can't imagine that is what turns
you against the movie by itself. There had to be more,
like you said, more betrayals behind the scenes.

Speaker 4 (59:48):
But the other one I saw was that again just
very nitpicky. But I will kind of agree with him
on this one. He had an issue with the way
the Sphinx looked because he was just like, why were
they so voluptuous? And I'll be honest, Like, watching it
this time around, I'm like, they had no business putting things.
Uh huh, I don't understand why.

Speaker 2 (01:00:08):
I totally agree with you. When I was watching, I
was like what, like, you know, and we're we're grown men,
but I was like, whoa boobs, Like yeah, okay, you know, yeah,
they were very very sexy, sexy oracles.

Speaker 6 (01:00:26):
Or anyone who's ever made a wish, believed in a fantasy,
or had a dream.

Speaker 2 (01:00:32):
Going back to the end, yeah, I could totally see
why the author might be annoyed. But it's just such
a really fun ending, and especially like we're talking about
some of the bleak stuff, there's heavy situations that happened
in the movie that I don't know. I totally understand
why they'd want to have just like a badass fun again,
fist pumping like yeah, you know, Bashian flying through and

(01:00:54):
putting the bullies in the dumpster like it's pretty eighties
and it's it's pretty awesome. I have to say, so,
sometimes a change is not so bad, right, But speaking
of the Oracles, I was gonna say that was a
scene that has always stuck with me. I guess there's two.
There's two statue scenes, right, I had always forgotten that. Yeah,
there's the really intense one you know where you know

(01:01:18):
it's it's also just kind of funny spatially because he's
with the Gnome couple with the really cool telescope so
far away, and then just like a minute later, all
of a sudden, he's walking. I'm like, okay, that would
be quite a long walk, but okay, but that was
always such a good, fun, tense scene. You know, what
is it the eyes open and lasers shoot out and
kill you if you don't believe in yourself, right, if

(01:01:40):
you're not confident, be confident? How interesting? Right, like good
lesson to force a kid to just you know, get
out of his own way and go.

Speaker 5 (01:01:51):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:01:53):
But that was always really fun and thrilling, and that
just the close ups on the eye, like a lot
of close ups on eyes, the statues a tray used
the Gnome a lot of you know. And then later
I had totally forgotten, So then is the Southern Oracle.
That's then later the other set of sphinx statues right

(01:02:14):
where they're blue and they're like speaking, am I right,
that's what's considered the Southern Oracle. Okay, yeah, because it
had been a while and like I was sort of
like kind of like, you know, it goes a little fast.
I'm like, wait what and then yeah, they're falling apart,
and that's when they tell a tray what you need, yeah,
human child in order for you know, uh, Fantasia to

(01:02:35):
keep going. Yeah, so that's interesting. I completely forgot there's
two of the same scene, and I wonder if that's
the same in the book, because it does feel a
little redundant, you know that there's two. I mean, yeah,
they're a different color, but like same big boobs eyes.
I'm just like, okay, you know. But again, before that,

(01:02:56):
I have.

Speaker 4 (01:02:56):
To point out again like an intense moment for a child,
like so obviously the first lesson is believe in yourself.
The second one remembers that mirror scene where he's like
it's snowing and they're basically like you have to look
in the mirror and face what's right in front of you,
and a lot of people get scared of what they see.
It's like, ah, that's another really intense, like real life

(01:03:17):
scenario that a lot of adults don't deal with.

Speaker 2 (01:03:20):
So totally yeah, agreed that that's a tense scene. It
feels almost like we're getting into like horror spooky territory,
you know, like as the it's cold, it's very like
the thing or something, you know, And uh, yeah, that's
an intense scene. But again, other that's a legend where
they're like legend into a mirror and there's mirror stuff

(01:03:41):
happening with mirrors and your Poulter guys.

Speaker 1 (01:03:43):
Three that see I'm telling you mirrors.

Speaker 2 (01:03:46):
Mirrors, Oh my god, you're right, and two very creepy
strange mirrors.

Speaker 3 (01:03:52):
Yeah, you're right. Well, one thing that bothers me my
least favorite thing about the movie, And I want to
get your opinion on this when he shouts out Moonchild
to name the childlike empress. So that's always felt so
anticlimactic to me, even as a kid. I remember like
I don't get it, and like now, like they're clearly

(01:04:13):
building up to him saying his mom's name, and I
don't think his mom's name was Moonchild, right. I did
some digging into this because there was a blog post
from Drew Mackie. He is the co host of the
Gayest Episode Ever podcast. He pointed out that I guess
the author of the book was a big follower of

(01:04:35):
Alister Crowley, the famous occultist, and Crowley wrote a book
in nineteen twenty three called Moonchild, and they both have
the urun in it, so it was like just a
weird reference to via cult. Also like another point he
made too, is like because it is kind of garbled

(01:04:56):
when he shouts it into the rain in the climax,
and I guess some versions, maybe all versions, don't subtitle
what he says, so it's kind of like a it's
a fill in the blank. You use your imagination person
watching this movie to make it even more meta. Yeah,
I guess, but I feel that you're reading into that

(01:05:18):
that's not what it was actually intended.

Speaker 2 (01:05:20):
Totally. I am so glad you're bringing this up. I'm
so glad. Yes, very weird decision, and I'm not gonna lie.
Just this week, I realize what BASTIONI screams. All these years,
I never knew. Oh you too, Okay, thank god?

Speaker 4 (01:05:36):
Yeah, I always wondered, but I never actually thought to
be like Joe now in this modern day, like to
put subtitles on and just see what it is, or
google it.

Speaker 2 (01:05:46):
Right or honestly, yeah, we should have googled it literally
years ago. But yeah, like I did not know, and
I'm you're so right, Joe, I'm pretty sure Moonchild has
nothing to do with Bastian's mom. And it's also confusing
because it's like, you know, especially as Fantasia is all
kind of broken up in space, which is also kind

(01:06:06):
of a freaky visual, and it's just the tower with
the Empress there. I'm like, well, she is sort of
like a moon Child. It's like its own planet, you know,
in space. Okay, you know, so that's also confusing to me,
And I'm just like, so it's like, what is he shouting?
Are we really not ever going to go back to
it to just make sure we double check that everyone

(01:06:26):
understands what he said? What is his mom's name?

Speaker 5 (01:06:30):
What?

Speaker 2 (01:06:31):
Yeah? So yeah, I totally agree, anti climactic, strange choice,
confusing for me to this day. So it's good that
we get falcre in the real world to kind of
just do away, Like, yeah, I forget about that part.

Speaker 4 (01:06:44):
Yeah, yeah, Okay, they talk about it and to either
because remember too, Joe, don't they have a scene where
like he keeps having flashbacks when his mom was sick.

Speaker 1 (01:06:56):
Oh yeah, Caesar in the hospital.

Speaker 8 (01:06:59):
She's losing his memories and yeah, losing his memories of
his mom, but he's also having that weird like fear
of like jumping basically into a giant Niagara falls, so
like faces fear.

Speaker 2 (01:07:14):
I don't know, like I hadn't seen Never Ending Story
in years. It had been at least twenty years, oh
my god, at least longer than that. But it's like
it's like what you were saying, Joe, the scene where
like a tray is looking at all the paintings, and
like I just knew, like your memories just come flooding
back of like I know now what happens, but like

(01:07:35):
if you were to ask me what happens in the
next scene, but then the second it starts, it's like,
oh yeah, he says that line, you know, So just
you guys saying that about Never Ending two, I'm like,
oh my god, yeah, the the mom stuff, the memories.

Speaker 4 (01:07:48):
Anyway, you definitely gotta check it out because I really
a character that rivals Chris's mommy from Return to Us.
Her name is Zaida and Never Ending Story two, and
she's the one that companies bash all over Fantasia that
basically is like helping lose his memory.

Speaker 6 (01:08:04):
This is the never ending story one thing.

Speaker 4 (01:08:11):
So I came across a few like weird things that
I had just heard about for the first time, one
of them being that again going back to that scene
at the Ivory Tower where we have all those weird creatures,
there's a shot where apparently they said that I mean,
it says Fantasia is supposed to be a realm where
all fiction resides, so that the director decided to make

(01:08:31):
some additions to the scene by adding characters that are fictional.
So if you look, I couldn't find some of them
I saw. Apparently there's I saw Gumby. They have a
shot of Gumby lose.

Speaker 1 (01:08:45):
It's weird. It's just like the back of them. It's
a silhouette.

Speaker 4 (01:08:48):
But apparently they also included like Chewbacca, Ewoks, which I
did see, Yoda and c three bl really. Oh, it's
like when the it's further away, it's a shot everyone's
standing there, because then when they get a buster, you
see like the same crowd, but like all these other
figures in the back are gone and you're just like

(01:09:09):
when they do the close up shots, you don't see
any of that stuff in the back. So it's so strange.

Speaker 2 (01:09:14):
That is amazing trivia. I'm so glad you are telling me. Okay,
now I'm now I'm gonna find it online again and
totally go back. That's so funny. Ewoks make perfect sense
because this also reminded me again mid eighties. Do you remember,
like the weren't there a few like Ewoks spin off? Yeah? Amen,

(01:09:35):
Joe a men. Yeah. So so I'm so happy because
I feel like Ewoks are totally part of this universe
for sure.

Speaker 4 (01:09:42):
Another one that I thought was really interesting. Again, when
you rewatch it, you'll start to pick it up on
it because I read this before I watched it, and
I was like, oh, now I can kind of see
is apparently they they filmed so since they filmed a
lot of this in where did you say is Austria.

Speaker 2 (01:09:59):
Most of it was apparently in Munich, and then they
did do the school and like street scenes like modern
day Real World that was in Vancouver, and then I
guess some beach stuff was in Spain, but most of
everything was in in Germany.

Speaker 4 (01:10:11):
Well, they said a lot of the actors were German
and didn't speak English, so they like recorded their lines
and then dubbed a lot, and the one most noticeable
part that I thought stood out. I mean they're talking
about in these fun facts like you can tell when
the puppets, I'm like, come on, it's a puppet mouth moving.
You can like rock Spider, you would not be able

(01:10:32):
to tell you speaking German? Right, But but no, the
one for me was that opening scene where we have
the guy on the snail and there's all those like
those three when you're watching it and maybe again, I
watched a DVD version of this, so maybe it's just
you know, it's not restored or whatever, but the dialogue

(01:10:52):
when you look at it, like, the voices do not
match the actors in my opinion, because we have that
noticeable actor from Joe that X Files up episode.

Speaker 1 (01:11:00):
We talked a lot about.

Speaker 3 (01:11:01):
I'm so happy that Ty, Yeah is it?

Speaker 2 (01:11:05):
Is it? Deep Roy? The actor Deep Roy? He's Indian
or Middle Eastern. Okay, he's like the O and the
Tim Burton Charlie in the back. Yeah, Okay, Yes, I'm
so glad you're bringing this up, Josh, because all these
years I've always thought, I'm surprised that's his voice, and yeah,
it must it's not.

Speaker 4 (01:11:24):
It can't be because it's very When you again you
watch it, it's just like these voices are just like,
well look at that, you know what I mean, Like
just it's revery animated, and it makes sense that they
would like dub it into English. And maybe they just
like he does speak English. I'm pretty sure. So, like
I maybe they just dubbed him because that's one of
those things like we're doing it with everyone else, let's

(01:11:45):
just do it so match.

Speaker 3 (01:11:46):
Weird.

Speaker 2 (01:11:47):
Yeah, he sounds like a younger like man or something.
I don't know. I don't know how to explain it.
It's just isn't it funny? Yeah, you just can tell,
like I don't think that's this guy's voice or he's
changing his voice somehow, you know. In interesting. Yeah, and
I I now that you bring it up. I feel
like the I forget his name, but the other guy
with the bat who's I like the two of them.

(01:12:07):
They're funny, the kind of goblin guy I feel like
I noticed on the big screen this time. Yeah, like
the the dubbing is not sinking with his lips moving
at times. So yeah, interesting.

Speaker 4 (01:12:19):
When you're paying attention, I feel like you can notice it.
I mean if you're just watching and you don't know this, Like,
I hope I'm not ruining the experience for people, because
now you're gonna watch it be like oh god. That
was the most noticeable to me that I'm like, oh,
something's is my DVD? Is my DVD like messed up?
Is the sinking just off?

Speaker 1 (01:12:36):
But no, the rest of the movie was fine.

Speaker 2 (01:12:38):
Yeah, No, he's a rock bier.

Speaker 3 (01:12:45):
I just want to shout out quick because I mentioned
it before that the VHS cover art with the little
creatures at the bottom, I found out that was done
by Richard Hescocks, who also did the VHS cover for
The Swamp Thing movie, which I feel is very icon
of Wow. Another yet and the drawn cover for Texas

(01:13:06):
Chainsaw Massacre he did that one too, which was I
feel that really fine.

Speaker 2 (01:13:11):
Wow art history there, movie art history back then. I
just feel like posters and and VHS covers were just
so interesting.

Speaker 3 (01:13:21):
You you sold the movie, so you have to bring
your a game.

Speaker 4 (01:13:26):
Joe and I will talk about we loved the poster
for two because it's very specific, it's so detailed. It
has everyone. I'm like, impress some of those weird creatures.

Speaker 3 (01:13:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:13:37):
Yeah, one last thing I'll shout out is it's still
it always has I mean, it's intended to make us
feel uncomfortable. But seeing on the pig screen as an adult, Oh,
I was cringing when the Empress looks right into the
camera at Bastion and he's looking at her, and it's
just like, oh, this is weird, you know, Like, what
did she say, Bastion, Why don't you do what you dream? Like?

(01:14:01):
She's like, it's very like Silence of the Lambs looking
right into the camera. I'm like, oh, this feels wrong,
you know. But again it's it's meant to really, you know,
raise the stakes.

Speaker 4 (01:14:11):
But she definitely sold it. And I have to say
it's funny when I was watching, like just researching like
reunion clips and stuff, and people are asking her all
these questions and they're like, what was your favorite scene
to films? She's like, well, I was only in two,
so I think the ones I was in, Like, how
can you answer that?

Speaker 2 (01:14:30):
I mean, yeah, she really.

Speaker 4 (01:14:33):
I mean in the sequel, I think she's got it's
not the same actress, it's a different one. She's older,
but there's a little more going on. And then three,
oh god, trash, But like there's this whole subplot of
like child like empress having this like attitude, and it's
just like, oh really, it's I would say see three
just to like cross that off air list of things

(01:14:54):
that you've done, just so you can say, Okay, I
get it like I saw it. The cover art again
is pretty because I remember seeing that VHS cover and
video stores.

Speaker 1 (01:15:04):
But man is it rough.

Speaker 2 (01:15:06):
But I just had to shut that out.

Speaker 9 (01:15:07):
BASTI please, yeah, call my name, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:15:18):
Call me by your name.

Speaker 2 (01:15:20):
Bas Okay, Well, thank you boys? Should we should we
sing the song to wrap it up? Anyone want to sing?

Speaker 3 (01:15:28):
Take it away, Joe?

Speaker 2 (01:15:31):
And that's the story of the Never Ending Story. Cue
the song, cut to credits. Thank you for listening to
or watching this episode of Release Date Rewind, and thank
you to my friends Josh and Joe from the Video
drop Box podcast for joining me on this quest. Give
their pod a listen to hear their thoughts on other movies.
And thanks also to my dad for his cameo in

(01:15:53):
this episode. If you aren't already, follow me on Instagram
at Release Date Rewind to see clips of our conversation
and to see more Never Ending Story content. You may
have voted in my recent story poll on which Bastion
was the best out of the never Ending trilogy, and
the majority voted Jonathan Brandis from never Ending Story two
as the best Bastion. Thanks also Strawha Media, Kyle Motsinger,

(01:16:17):
Greg Clemens and Portland Media Center and everybody. Next time
on the pod, we're going back to ninety nine to
ring in spooky season with the Sixth Sense.