History Trivia / TheNeverendingStory

!!The First Film
* ActingForTwo: Oppenheimer is not only Falkor, but also Gmork, Rockbiter and the narrator.
* DeletedScene: There's one where Atreyu speaks with a CanonForeigner giant named Permentor who is shrinking as the land of Fantasia is being consumed by the Nothing.
* DisownedAdaptation: Creator/MichaelEnde filed an injunction to stop the production of the film, or failing that prevent them from using the title of his novel. He was unsuccessful, and demanded that his name be removed from the credits. He particularly took issue with the film's ending, which shows Fantasia restored with little creative input from Bastian and also shows Falkor crossing into the human world (noted to be impossible in the novel, as Fantasticans who enter the human world become lies). This is why Ende's name is not referenced in the film's opening credits. Given that the first film was a much closer adaptation (of the first half of the book, at least), one can only imagine what he'd think of the other two.
** Most of all he objected to the change of the words on AURYN from "Do what you want" ("Tu Was Du Willst") to "Do what you dream". He chose the words to be ambiguous - "Do whatever you want" or "Find your true will" - and Bastian cannot find his way out of Fantastica until he learns to follow the second interpretation rather than the first.
* EnforcedMethodActing: That look of shock on Atreyu's face and how dazed he looks getting up after he kills Gmork? That was real. Apparently, they didn't realize how heavy the mechanical wolf puppet could be, and when they shot the scene, it almost knocked out Atreyu's actor. They decided not to try for a second shot after he revealed the claws almost poked out [[EyeScream one of his eyes too.]]
* ExecutiveMeddling: After the film's test screenings revealed that audiences were not enthused with Music/KlausDoldinger's score, the studio commissioned Music/GiorgioMoroder to replace some of the original music with his own. Creator/WolfgangPetersen was not pleased, though the title song became one of the most memorable aspects of the film to many viewers.
* OneTakeWonder: Noah Hathaway almost lost an eye during the fight scene versus Gmork. One of the claws on his giant paws poked him in the face. The robot was also so heavy that he lost his breath as well when he was hit to the ground by it. They only made one shot due to the risk that he would get seriously wounded.
* OnSetInjury: Noah Hathaway was training with horses when one spooked and tried to jump a fence, missed, and fell on him, cracking several vertebrae. It put off production for two months when he recovered in the hospital, and led to permanent spinal problems.
* PopCultureUrbanLegends: Contrary to Internet rumor, the horse did not really die during the filming of the Swamps of Sadness scene. As confirmed by a German magazine interview with Noah Hathaway shortly after the movie, and in the years since at conventions, the horse was given to Noah when production concluded, but due to the cost of transportation, need for quarantine, and sterilization, the horse was left behind in Germany.
* TroubledProduction: As the most expensive movie made in Germany up to that time (and, indeed, the most expensive movie made outside the US or USSR at that time), it's hardly surprising that things went wrong in many ways, as actors got injured, the weather was scorching hot and scenes were cut after the Swamps of Sadness spent too much money. Producer Dieter Geissler decided not to endure everything again by spending a whole year with pre-production when doing ''The Next Chapter''.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Ygramul the Many was intended to appear--the sequence was scripted and storyboarded--but cancelled due to the special effects limitations of the time. This scene would have explained why the gnomes are seen giving Atreyu and Falcor heavy doses of medicine, as Ygramul was a hive-minded swarm of deadly poisonous wasps.
** The same goes for the Wind Giants from the book--when the crew weren't able to convincingly create giant cloud beings, the scene was re-cut into Atreyu and Falcor's close encounter with the Nothing in flight (the line "Look Atreyu, the Nothing!" from Falcor being dubbed in).
** Atreyu was originally supposed to be green-skinned like in the book, but according to Noah Hathaway the makeup looked terrible.
* WordOfGod: According to the filmmakers, the rolling storm clouds were not meant to actually be the Nothing, but rather an indication of its presence, as the Nothing is an invisible force.

* DisownedAdaptation: Creator/MichaelEnde filed an injunction to stop the production of the film, or failing that prevent them from using the title of his novel. He was unsuccessful, and demanded that his name be removed from the credits. He particularly took issue with the film's ending, which shows Fantasia restored with little creative input from Bastian and also shows Falkor crossing into the real world (noted to be impossible in the novel, as Fantasticans who enter the real world become lies). This is why Ende's name is not referenced in the film's opening credits. Given that the first film was a much closer adaptation (of the first half of the book, at least), one can only imagine what he'd think of the other two.

* PopCultureUrbanLegends: Contrary to Internet rumor, the horse did not really die during the filming of the Swamp of Sadness scene. As confirmed by a German magazine interview with Noah Hathaway shortly after the movie, and in the years since at conventions, the horse was given to Noah when production concluded, but due to the cost of transportation, need for quarantine, and sterilization, the horse was left behind in Germany.
* TroubledProduction: As the most expensive movie made in Germany up to that time (and, indeed, the most expensive movie made outside the US or USSR at that time), it's hardly surprising that things went wrong in many ways, as actors got injured, the weather was scorching hot and scenes were cut after the Swamp of Sadness spent too much money. Producer Dieter Geissler decided not to endure everything again by spending a whole year with pre-production when doing ''The Next Chapter''.

* OnSetInjury: Noah Hathaway was training with horses when one spooked and tried to jump a fence, missed, and fell on him, cracking several vertebrae. It put off production for two months when he recovered in the hospital, and lead to permanent spinal problems.

* PopCultureUrbanLegends: Contrary to Internet rumor, the horse did not really die during the filming of the Swamp of Sadness scene. As confirmed by German magazine interview with Noah Hathaway shortly after the movie, and in the years since at conventions, the horse was given to Noah at the end of filming but due to the cost of transportation, need for quarantine, and sterilization, the horse was left behind in Germany.

!!The movies
* BoxOfficeBomb: The second and third movies in the U.S. For ''The Next Chapter'', Budget, $36 million. Box office, $17 million (domestic), $56,468,971 (worldwide). This led to the third unrelated film having a budget of $17 million. Box office, $5 million in Germany, but allegedly not even 5 figures in the States, where it screened in limited release, was ripped to shreds, and eventually came DirectToVideo without Warner's involvement (Creator/{{Disney}}/Miramax distributed it instead).
* DawsonCasting: The "high school students" in ''III'' are in their mid-20s - or ''older''. Similarly, Julie Cox is cast as the "Childlike" Empress despite being 21 by the time the film came out, which is noticeable in that she was actually ''taller'' than Jason James Richter, who played Bastian in that film.
* DeletedScene: There's one from the first film where Atreyu speaks with a CanonForeigner giant named Permentor who is shrinking as the land of Fantasia is being consumed by the Nothing.

* ExecutiveMeddling: After the first film's test screenings revealed that audiences were not enthused with Music/KlausDoldinger's score, the studio commissioned Music/GiorgioMoroder to replace some of the original music with his own. Creator/WolfgangPetersen was not pleased, though the title song became one of the most memorable aspects of the film to many viewers.
* FranchiseKiller: The third film, which unlike the first two used almost no elements from the novel. Characters not retaining their original personalities and acting in a cheesy too-modern way, Atreyu being absent, and no appearance by the series's iconic theme song at the end of the movie (which instead reused a "Born to Be Wild" rendition) were the final nails in this film's bookcover.
* OldShame: Do NOT talk about the third movie to Creator/JackBlack.

* TheOtherDarrin: The only character in the second movie played by the same actor as in the first movie is Mr. Coreander (Thomas Hill), and in the third movie everyone is recast again, even him. Most noticeably, Bastian's father has inexplicably gotten younger and hipper between the first and second films.
* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/JackBlack, who is typically known for playing somewhat bumbling yet lovable misfits, is the BigBad of the third film.

** Atreyu was actually supposed to appear as a main character in ''The [=NeverEnding=] Story III'', ending up in Las Vegas as a result of Bastian's wish overload. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Perhaps he was cut from the film for the best]], as the [[UnfortunateImplications incredibly stereotypical Native American accent the writers gave him probably would not have sat well with a lot of people.]]

* OneTakeWonder: Noah Hathaway almost lost an eye during the fight-scene versus Gmork. One of the claws on his giant paws poked him in the face. The robot was also so heavy that he lost his breath as well when he was hit to the ground by it. They only made one shot due to the risk that he would get seriously wounded.

* FranchiseKiller: The third film. Characters didn't retain their original personalities, Atreyu being absent and the series' iconic theme song at the end of the movie (which reused a "Born to Be Wild" rendition) were the final nails in this film's bookcover.

** The same goes for the Wind Giants from the book--when the crew weren't able to convincingly create giant cloud beings, the scene was re-cut into Atreyu and Falcor's close encounter with The Nothing (the line "Look Atreyu, The Nothing!" from Falcor being dubbed in).
** Atreyu was actually supposed to appear as a main character in the ''Never Ending Story 3', ending up in Las Vegas as a result of Bastian's wish overload. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Perhaps he was cut from the film for the best]], as the [[UnfortunateImplications incredibly stereotypical Native American accent the writers gave him probably would not have sat well with a lot of people.]]
** Atreyu was originally supposed to be green, but they couldn't make the effects work.
* WordOfGod: According to the filmmakers, the rolling storm clouds were not meant to actually be The Nothing, but rather an indication of its presence, as The Nothing is an invisible force.

* NoExportForYou: The "Legends of Fantastica" book series, in which other authors tell some of the AnotherStoryForAnotherTime stories, is not available in English.

* TheOtherDarrin: The second movie has only one of the main actors from the first movie (Thomas Hill as Mr. Coreander), and the third movie doesn't have any of them. Most noticeably, Bastian's father has inexplicably gotten younger between the first and second films.

* TroubledProduction: As the most expensive movie made in Germany up to that time (and, indeed, the most expensive movie made outside the US or USSR at that time), it's hardly surprising that things went wrong in many ways, as actors got injured, the weather was scorching hot and scenes were cut after the Swamp Sadness spent too much money. Producer Dieter Geissler decided not to endure everything again by spending a whole year with pre-production when doing ''The Next Chapter''.