BW Media Spotlight

The NeverEnding Story is my all-time favorite movie.

Visually it’s beautiful not only for its time but the only effect I feel doesn’t hold up is Bastian and Falcor in the regular world. It’s a story that speaks to why I love storytelling, and Bastian is pretty much me as a kid, evading bullies and problems in the pages of a book, or a comic, a TV show or movie, and any other type of storytelling. I don’t take it so seriously that I can’t enjoy some fun at the expense of the odder parts of the story.

One of the cool things I got to do at ConnectiCon was attending a press junket with Noah Hathaway, who played Atreyu, and getting to attend a panel with Hathaway and Falcor’s voice, the legendary Alan Oppenheimer. I think that same year I finally got to see it in the theater, as the theater across from the convention center was taking advantage of the con goers with their flashback movie choices. I also did this:

If you can’t draw yourself riding Falcor why are you drawing at all?

Now word has come out that a remake of my favorite movie is in the works. You know, by the same Hollywood that spits on the past, looks to “make it better” for “modern audiences”. That means warping something already good to fit their tastes and worldview. Anything popular NEEDS to belong to the “everything for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” crowd. You know they’re going to ruin it.

Strangely, I’m not bothered by this. Why? Because I’m not a hypocrite and there is one mistake this movie made…though it’s a mistake I’m glad they made because it wouldn’t be my favorite movie if they hadn’t. You know how I always say there’s a difference between a good story and a good adaptation? Well, when it comes to The NeverEnding Story that certainly applies. The movie is a great story, my favorite story, but as an adaptation…well, I’ll let someone who actually read Michael Ende’s book explain. It’s an older video and there’s some swearing but it will help make my case.

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