The NeverEnding Story (1984)

Falkor – the cutest dragon in cinema.

I was never a great fan of fluffy fantasy movies, not then and not now, but this was different, although perhaps more importantly, I was different. It was probably the first movie in the genre that I really had an affection for.

Cinema was a lot more innocent in the early eighties, and The NeverEnding Story, which came out in 1984, was a product of that time. It was a golden period for my memories, and like a lot of families then, we had a library of movies that had been recorded onto video (back in the dark VHS days) and I probably wore the tracking out on this one more than any other.

To avoid awkwardness, the Empress at a more appropriate age.

The fantastical plot appealed to me at the time. Bastian, running away from some school bullies, opens a mysterious and ancient book (in an even more mysterious bookstore) and, well… falls into the world created within. Who amongst us hasn’t wanted to do that at one time or another?

But it was the characters that made this adventure so enjoyable – from Falkor, the least frightening dragon in the history of everything, to the similarly soft Rock Biter, it was all very muppet-like. It was unashamedly a movie for kids.

And yes, just in case you bump into my sister, I’ll have to admit that I did fancy the Childlike Empress, the Queen of Fantasia, played by Tami Stronach… but even though she was just a little girl at the time, I was three years younger than her, so I should get a pass on that.

Typical – I always have liked older women.