Bastian’s Father: I got a call from your math teacher, yesterday. She says that you were drawing horses in your math book.
Bastian: Unicorns. They were unicorns.
Bastian’s Father: What?
Bastian: Nothing.
When “The Neverending Story” hit the movie theaters, I was almost 12 years old. I saw the movie several times and read everything I could get hold of. In the end I knew the end credits by heart as well as the soundtrack. By the way, who remembers the theme song by Limahl? Join in! “Neverending Stoooo-ho-ryyyy – ahahaa ahahaa ahahaaaaa”.
Many years later it got really interesting. Because I asked myself what had drawn me to this movie when I was a kid. And I found out that it was not the hero, Atreju, though I had his poster hanging above my bed and I cried every time I saw his horse Artax dying in the Swamps Of Sadness.
In the meantime I am quite sure that I identified with Bastian, the anti-hero. The kid who read as many books as I did when I was a child. The kid who always wanted to be part of the stories, but did not have the courage to be strong in real life. The kid who was told to have both feet on the ground. The kid who excelled himself when he could influence the stories in his book. This was the emotional theme through which I could connect to the story.
It is really interesting what you find when you think back to your childhood movies as an adult.
And what are your childhood movies telling you about your grown-up self?