10 Things - The NeverEnding Story: The Version You've Never Seen

Something that was a big help for getting information for making this video were two other videos, brilliantly made with lots of detail, love and care, please also check them out:

The NeverEnding Story: Comparison of the two versions

DARKER VERSION of the Never Ending Story | Scribbles to Screen

[kerim.peardon]

The Swamp of Sadness is actually a perfect metaphor for grief. I realized one day, after my husband passed away, that I was slogging through the Swamp of Sadness on a daily basis, trying to keep moving forward and not think about anything, lest I get overwhelmed by the sadness and then sucked down, never to come back up again.

It made it a tiny bit easier to deal with, because I understood the quest then: just keep slogging until you get out of the swamp. (Or a luck dragon comes to rescue you.)

[shirw]

It is funny that children's movies being made now are "safe" to the point of being... well, "nothing!" Seems like the movie makers today have forgotten that giving children a safe place to experience emotion is a good thing!
Love this video and your message 💕

[seanmorgan]

Oh... Artax drowning in the swamp of sadness.... thank you for ripping that band-aid off right away.

[NextToToddliness]

Maybe one of the greatest kids/family films ever created. There's so many important things that kids learn in this story, from bullying, divorce, and despression to imagination, creativity, reading, and the importance of fantasy. My favorite line from the film has always been, "It has to hurt if it's to heal."

Great. Movie.

[petebyrdie]

Yes, Artax's sinking was even more desperately sad in the book because Artax could talk; he was a proper character by that point and he was talking to Atreyu as he sank. It was at once a representation of chronic depression, and the hopelessness often felt by those who want to help loved ones with depression.

[PVRTY]

The other sad part is the rock creature… after the Nothing tears through and wipes out his companions and repeatedly says, ” They look like strong hands.. don’t they?” 😳

[trinaq]

Happy 40th Anniversary, "Neverending Story!" I'd actually never seen it until last week, when it was showing in a special screening in my local picture house. I adored it, and so did plenty of children in my audience. That theme song is also incredibly catchy.

[kodosdh]

for everyone interested to watch it, the Neverending Story got released in UHD/4k in Germany (2021) and therefore comes with the alternative cut region free

PS: Bonus Fact, despite Limahls song not being part of the german cut of the film, the title song reached #2 in the charts

[wstine]

Minty's Comedic Arts videos always pull you out of the swamps of sadness.

[quincyd]

im from germany i can remember watching the original cut with my mom.
and the intro indeed felt deep, fantastical, dark and very serious

[patbennett]

Great vid Minty. Fun fact - I used to belong to a prop group on FB. A guy came up and said that he just bought the Never Ending Story hero book. The amazing part was that the person who sold it to him was friends with Noah Hathaway and got Noah to hand deliver the book to his house.

[Toshiro]

The fact of having kept Gmork hidden, with the figure fully revealed only during the final confrontation with Atreyu is also closer to the book, where Gmork appeared in Fantasia as a shapeless mass of darkness, which only later became a real wolf.

Furthermore, in the book, we learned that Gmork does not have a wolf or human form (when he appears in our world), since he does not have his own homeland. So it is likely that being rooted in a form close to that of a world that is being destroyed by Nothing (which is a method, a means. But IT IS NOT who is behind the destruction of Fantasia) contributes to making it weaker.

[hitmanmonaghan]

A girl went to Dragoncon as Atreyu complete with horse head. She placed it on the carpet and “Artax! You’re sinking!” Yeah. It fucked us up.

[SolitaryWolf]

When this movie came out, I spent more times in the theater watching it than I did in my college classrooms. Perhaps that’s why I failed college? This film is beyond amazing. The soundtrack, beautiful. I am so obsessed with the soundtrack. I still listen to it a lot these days.

[stevenyarnell]

I remember watching that wonderful film on VHS back in 1995!

The hell with possible remake! Even though that the subject of this video doesn’t quite follow the book entirely, the film has stood the test of time. Doubly so with the iconic theme song sung by Limahl (who I thought at first was a female singer when, instead, the guy is a tenor) and his female assist singer!

[LLamaDrunk]

"A little bit of hope goes a long way". Thank you for this Minty. It really struck a chord with me as I'm struggling a bit with my mental health. I'm sure your words will come in handy.

[JoanneBeck-rw]

I saw The Never Ending story in the movie theater. What an emotional experience! The visuals, the epic music, the old school special effects. Seen it over the years multiple times but that first time was one of my favorite movie going experiences that went perfectly with my 6 year old imagination.

[wanderingseth]

From memory, in the book, Atreyu finds him chained up in Spook City, a dark metropolis full of witches, vampires, werewolves etc. All the inhabitants of the city have just been seen grotesquely dancing into the Nothing and throwing themselves in. However Gmork was chained up before they all left, so he's the only one left. He had been on the trail of Atreyu, when the Princess of Spook City lured and trapped him after she learned his mission. As another being of Fantasia, her was technically her enemy, even though they were both creatures of darkness. Gmork has quite a lengthy conversation with Atreyu. READ IT!

[chriscripplercruz]

I remember watching this in theaters when it came out. My first comment was going to be about the atrax making me cry uncontrollably when I saw it but Minty already took care of that for me. I absolutely loved this movie watched it with my 2 brothers quite often. They're both gone now but when I watch this classic I always think about us sitting on the floor in the living room and it makes me smile.

[jeremiahedwards]

Bonus fact: I was at a convention where Noah Hathaway was guesting. Hathaway said that they filmed the scenes in the swamp for a month. They had 2 horses to play as Artax. They would sink one, switch out horses, and reshoot the scene while they cleaned and prepped the other horse. Hathaway said that scene was filmed over and over again for almost 2 weeks.