History YMMV / TheNeverEndingStory

For YMMV items specifically about the sequels to the film, visit the YMMV pages for ''YMMV/TheNeverendingStoryIITheNextChapter'' and ''YMMV/TheNeverEndingStoryIIIEscapeFromFantasia''.

!! [[Film/TheNeverEndingStory The First Movie]]:

* AccidentalInnuendo: A rather infamous example in the Spanish dub. Engywook's line "To the winch, wench!" was translated as "¡Dale al manubrio, mujer!". At the time the dub was made, "manubrio" was a somewhat-antiquated word referring to a crank. ''Nowadays'', however, it's better known in Spain as a slang word for "penis". It comes across as Engywook demanding Urgl to jerk him off.
* AdaptationDisplacement: In the English-speaking world, the first movie is far better-known than the book, despite covering only roughly half of the book's length.
* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: When Bastian brings back Fantasia at the end, did he really bring everyone back to life, or has he created new versions of the characters?
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
** The title song by Limahl. Inspired countless [[SpeedyTechnoRemake remixes]]. The lack of it in the third movie was greatly missed.
** Both Music/KlausDoldinger's original score and Music/GiorgioMoroder's re-score have plenty of memorable tracks:
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tlc8NreXAk The Sphinx Gate.]] So much great tension and suspense, up until those last heart-pounding moments.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2muPtWsKi4 Falcor's theme]] is one of the most uplifting pieces of music in film.
*** The majestic [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdQyVnNR4As Ivory Tower theme]] and its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-ck6vCYjy0 reprise]]. It was so awesome, in fact, that Creator/{{NBC}} would re-use the music during their baseball broadcasts for the rest of the 1980s.
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Bastian. He's either a cute and endearing AudienceSurrogate, or whiny and annoying.
* CatharsisFactor: Atreyu facing down and killing Gmork, who has been hunting him throughout the entire movie, is extremely satisfying.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Artax. He has ''five minutes'' of screen time, most of which is him dying, yet the GutPunch of his death [[SignatureScene is one of the most remembered parts of the movie]]. [[spoiler:Fortunately, he was revived alongside everyone else in the end.]]
* FirstInstallmentWins: Though the decreasing budgets (and increasing distance from anything resembling the original novel) helped, too.
* IronWoobie: Atreyu. He suffers one crushing setback after another, rarely seems to make any progress on his quest (or even know where to go next), and in the end believes - with much justification - that he's failed to save Fantasia from the Nothing. Yet he never whines about his fate and he never gives up.
* ItWasHisSled: Artax drowns in the Swamp of Sadness. It's one of the most memorable parts of the movie due to it being a famous GutPunch of a scene.
* MemeticMutation:
** "Come for me, G'mork! ''I am Atreyu!''"
** That shot of Bastian cheering as he rides Falcor.
** A common joke to make is that ''The Neverending Story'' ended, but ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' is nowhere near its final installment, seeing as both fantasy franchises have opposite titles that are ultimately non-indicative of how they ended up.
** A little ManipulativeEditing can turn Falkor into a creepy [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfdIlD4VF-Q child molesting monster]].
** Warner Home Video Presents: [[TearJerker The Part in The Never Ending Story Where Artax Dies]] on [[OverlyLongGag Loop for Three and a Half Hours]]
* MoralEventHorizon: Gmork crosses this by trying to kill Atreyu and cause Fantasia's destruction purely out of a selfish desire for power. Atreyu has no problem killing him after learning this.
* {{Narm}}: When we first see Morla, Bastian looks up from the book and randomly screams at the top of his lungs, creating a hilarious moment. The shot feels like he paused and then gave a loud scream deliberately for absolutely no reason.
** As terrifying as the animatronic of Gmork is, don't slow down the film's speed when he has to "lunge" out of the hole in the wall he's been situated in or you'll experience MoodWhiplash [[SpecialEffectsFailure into hilarity.]]
* NarmCharm: By all rights, the Swamp of Sadness scene should not work at all. We've barely seen anything of Atreyu's bond with Artax, and it's hard to believe that a horse could become depressed after walking through a few miles of swampland. But Noah Hathaway's performance combined with the music completely sells the emotion of the scene, and made it an iconic {{Tearjerker}} for everyone who saw the film as kids.
* NeverLiveItDown: Bastian's incomprehensible screaming of his mother's name is a frequently heard joke.
* SacredCow: This film is considered to be one of the most cherished works by many lovers of fantasy flicks.
* {{Sequelitis}}: Neither of the two sequels are considered anywhere near as good as the first. Opinions as to whether or not the second film is still watchable despite the drop-off in quality vary, but virtually nobody will defend the third film.
* SignatureScene: Artax sinking in the Swamp of Sadness is the most widely remembered moment of the film thanks to how much conviction Noah Hathaway puts into making it feel like a genuine tragedy. Consequently, the scene is widely brought up by people who grew up with the movie as one of the most iconic {{Tear Jerker}}s of the 1980s.
* SpecialEffectFailure: The optical effects haven't really held up over the years, to say the least.
* SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing: The German dub is preferred by some. The voice acting is quite good, and the German script itself is rather more complex than the original.
* UnintentionalUncannyValley: Falkor's appearance, even in the first movie, can have this effect on some viewers. His face is... well, almost like a dog's. Almost.
* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The practical effects are nothing short of impressive, particularly in the way of the animatronics and the very convincingly realized world of Fantasia.
* ViewerGenderConfusion: Quite a few mistook Atreyu to be a girl.
* TheWoobie: Bastian. He spends most of the story being chastised by his dad, or bullied by bigger kids, or becoming increasingly terrified by a magical book that is making him part of its world. And his only sin is ''daydreaming too much''.

* MoralEventHorizon: Gmork crosses this by trying to kill Atreyu and cause Fantasia's destruction purely out of a selfish desire for power.

* CatharsisFactor: Atreyu facing down and killing Gmork is extremely satisfying.

* SpecialEffectFailure: The optical effects haven't really held up over the years.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Child finds a passageway into another world and becomes written into a story leaving his mundane life behind? Sounds like a lot of children's books today. Except this trope wasn't as common back in the day.

%%ZCE* SignatureScene: Bastian riding Falcor.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Artax. He has ''five minutes'' of screen time, most of which is him dying, yet the GutPunch of his death is one of the most remembered parts of the movie. [[spoiler:Fortunately, he was revived alongside everyone else in the end.]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tlc8NreXAk The Sphinx Gate.]] So much great tension and suspense, up until those last heart-pounding moments.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2muPtWsKi4 Falcor's theme]] is one of the most uplifting pieces of music in film.

** [[[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2muPtWsKi4 Falcor's theme]] is one of the most uplifting pieces of music in film.

** Falcor's theme is one of the most uplifting pieces of music in film.

* AccidentalInnuendo: A rather infamous example in the Spanish dub. Engywook's line "To the winch, wench!" was translated as "¡Dale al manubrio, mujer!". At the time the dub was made, "manubrio" was a somewhat-antiquated word referring to a crank. ''Nowadays'', however, it's better known in Spain as a slang word for "penis". It comes across as [[ADateWithRosiePalms Engywook demanding Urgl to jerk him off]].

** Falcor's theme is one of the most uplifting pieces of music in filmdom
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Bastian. He's either cute and relatable, or whiny and annoying.

* BrokenAesop: A few infamous examples.
** Daydreaming in school is bad? But if Bastian hadn't cut class to read the book, Fantasia would have been destroyed.
** OnlyTheWorthyMayPass the Sphinx Gate, and you're not worthy? Whatever, just dodge the bolts it'll shoot at you instead.

%%* TheWoobie: Bastian in the first film.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The Childlike Empress: between the time loop, everything we learn in The City of Old Emperors, and finding out that she'd drawn Bastian into a world that became more and more impossible for him to escape from even if he was ''frugal'' with his wishes and didn't lose his mind without a single warning, it's not too difficult to read the Childlike Empress as the villain of the story.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The Childlike Empress: Between the time loop, everything we learn in The City of Old Emperors, and finding out that she'd drawn Bastian into a world that became more and more impossible for him to escape from even if he was ''frugal'' with his wishes and didn't lose his mind without a single warning, it's not too difficult to read The Childlike Empress as the villain of the story.

* OneSceneWonder: The Childlike Empress actually appears in only three chapters. It's a plot point that no one can meet her more than once.

* SignatureScene: Bastian riding Falcor.

** Both Music/KlausDoldinger's original score and Music/GiorgioMoroder's re-score have plenty of memorable tracks:
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwb_B03npcQ The theme of the Ivory Tower.]]
*** The versions from the movie itself: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdQyVnNR4As First Sight]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-ck6vCYjy0 Reprise]].
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2muPtWsKi4 Bastian's Happy Flight.]]
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tlc8NreXAk The Sphinx Gate.]] So much great tension and suspense, up until those last heart-pounding moments.