# The NeverEnding Story (film series)

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.
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.
The third film in the series, The NeverEnding Story III, has an original plot.

## 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 | 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 | 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

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

| Character | The NeverEnding Story | The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter | The NeverEnding Story III |
| Character | 1984 | 1990 | 1994 |
| Bastian Balthazar Bux | Barret Oliver | Jonathan BrandisJ. Michael Haney | Jason James Richter |
| Atreyu | Noah Hathaway | Kenny MorrisonNoah Hathaway | |
| Carl Conrad Coreander | Thomas Hill | 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 | Donald Arthur | William Hootkins |
| Mr. Rockbiter Sr. | Alan Oppenheimer | Dan Fincher | Frederick Warder |
| Gmork | Alan Oppenheimer | | |
| 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 | | |
| Mr. Rockbiter Jr. | | Colin Gilder | David Forman |
| 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 |
| Bark Troll | | | William Hootkins |
| 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 | Crew/detail | Crew/detail | Crew/detail | Crew/detail | Crew/detail |
| Film/Television | 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 (United States) Columbia-EMI-Warner Distributors (United Kingdom) | 94 minutes |
| The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter | Robert Folk | David Connell | Chris Blunden and Peter Hollywood | CineVox Filmproduktion | Warner Bros. Pictures | 90 minutes |
| The NeverEnding Story III | Peter Wolf | Robin Vidgeon | Michael Bradsell and Jim Roddan | CineVox Filmproduktion | Miramax Films | 95 minutes |

## Reception
### Critical and public response

| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
| The NeverEnding Story | 81% (42 reviews) | 46 (10 reviews) |
| The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter | 14% (7 reviews) | 30 (13 reviews) |
| The NeverEnding Story III | N/A (3 reviews) | — |