The NeverEnding Story (film series)

The NeverEnding Story
Directed by	Wolfgang Petersen (1) George T. Miller (2) Peter Macdonald (3)
Based on	The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
Produced by	Bernd Eichinger (1) Dieter Geissler (1–3) Heinz Bibo (3) Tim Hampton (3) Klaus Kaehler (3) Harry Nap (3) Harold Lee Tichenor (3)
Production companies	Producers Sales Organization Neue Constantin Film (1) CineVox (2-3)
Distributed by	West Germany: Neue Constantin Film (1) Warner Bros. (2-3) United States: Warner Bros. (1–2) Miramax Films (3)
Running time	279 minutes
Countries	West Germany United States
Language	English

The NeverEnding Story (German: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a West German/American-produced English language epic fantasy film series based on the 1979 novel of the same name by Michael Ende.

The original 1984 film, The NeverEnding Story , was directed and co-written by Wolfgang Petersen and was later followed by two sequels. ^[1]

The first film adapted the first half of the original novel, while the second half of the novel was used as the rough basis for the second film, The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter . ^[2]

The third film in the series, The NeverEnding Story III , has an original plot. ^[3]

Films

Film	U.S. release date	Director(s)	Screenwriter(s)	Story by	Producer(s)
The NeverEnding Story	July 20, 1984 (1984-07-20)	Wolfgang Petersen	Wolfgang Petersen and Herman Weigel		Bernd Eichinger and Dieter Geissler
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter	February 8, 1991 (1991-02-08)	George T. Miller	Karin Howard		Dieter Geissler
The NeverEnding Story III	April 2, 1996 (1996-04-02)	Peter MacDonald	Jeff Lieberman	Karin Howard	Heinz Bibo, Dieter Geissler, Tim Hampton, Klaus Kaehler, Harry Nap and Harold Lee Tichenor

Cast and crew

List indicators

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in more than two films in the series.

• An empty grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
•  ^A indicates an appearance through archival footage or audio.
•  ^U indicates an uncredited appearance.
•  ^V indicates a voice-only role.
•  ^Y indicates a younger version of the character.

Principal cast

Main article: List of The Neverending Story characters

Character	The NeverEnding Story	The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter	The NeverEnding Story III
	1984	1990	1994
Bastian Balthazar Bux	Barret Oliver	Jonathan Brandis J. Michael Haney Y	Jason James Richter
Atreyu	Noah Hathaway	Kenny Morrison Noah Hathaway A U
Carl Conrad Coreander	Thomas Hill		Freddie Jones
The Childlike Empress	Tami Stronach	Alexandra Johnes	Julie Cox
Engywook	Sydney Bromley		Tony Robinson
Urgl	Patricia Hayes		Moya Brady
Falkor the Luckdragon	Alan Oppenheimer V	Donald Arthur V	William Hootkins V
Mr. Rockbiter Sr.		Dan Fincher V	Frederick Warder V
Gmork
Barney Bux	Gerald McRaney	John Wesley Shipp	Kevin McNulty
Cairon	Moses Gunn
Teeny Weeny	Deep Roy
Night Hob	Tilo Prückner
Ethan	Darryl Cooksey
Todd	Drum Garrett
Lucas	Nicholas Gilbert
Morla	Robert Easton V U
Mr. Rockbiter Jr.		Colin Gilder V	David Forman V
Xayide		Clarissa Burt
Nimbly		Martin Umbach
Tri-Face		Christopher Burton
Mrs. Bux		Helena Michell
Nicole Baxter			Melody Kay
Slip			Jack Black
Jane Bux			Tracey Ellis
Mrs. Rockbiter			Mac McDonald V
Bark Troll			William Hootkins V
The Janitor			Mark Acheson
Dog			Ryan Bollman
Mookie			Carole Finn
Coil			Nicole Parker
Rage			Adrien Dorval

Additional crew and production details

Film/Television	Crew/detail
	Composer(s)	Cinematographer(s)	Editor(s)	Production companies	Distributing company	Running time
The NeverEnding Story	Klaus Doldinger and Giorgio Moroder	Jost Vacano	Jane Seitz	Neue Constantin Film, Bavaria Film, and Producers Sales Organization	Warner Bros. Pictures	94 minutes
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter	Robert Folk	David Connell	Chris Blunden and Peter Hollywood	CineVox Filmproduktion		90 minutes
The NeverEnding Story III	Peter Wolf	Robin Vidgeon	Michael Bradsell and Jim Roddan		Miramax Films	95 minutes

Reception

Critical and public response

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic
The NeverEnding Story	81% (42 reviews) [4]	46 (10 reviews) [5]
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter	14% (7 reviews) [6]	30% (13 reviews) [7]
The NeverEnding Story III	25% (3 reviews) [8]	—

References

1. Variety staff (1984-01-01). "The Neverending Story Review". Variety . Retrieved 2008-07-13.
2. Maslin, Janet (February 9, 1991). "Review/Film; In Fantasia, the End May Be in Sight". The New York Times .
3. Derek Elley (December 26, 1994). "Review: "The Neverending Story III"". Variety .
4. "The NeverEnding Story". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved April 9, 2022.
5. "The NeverEnding Story Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved April 9, 2022.
6. "The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved April 9, 2022.
7. "The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved April 9, 2022.
8. "The NeverEnding Story III". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved April 9, 2022.

External links

• The Neverending Story at the Encyclopedia of Fantasy
• The NeverEnding Story at IMDb  
• The NeverEnding Story II at IMDb  
• The NeverEnding Story III at IMDb