I was lucky to read the book before the movie came out. Must’ve been one of the first really long stories that got me so completely I did little else. It was a beautiful hardcover printed in 2 colors (forest green for Phantasia, burgundy red for reality) and amazing chapter illustrations.

Michael Ende, slightly underappreciated author who wrote some pretty amazing and influential stuff (Momo, N. S., Mirror in the Mirror), had a meltdown when he realized what the film industry did to his epos.

Ende’s initial trust was betrayed when the author saw the final script five days before the film premiered. “I was horrified. They had changed the whole sense of the story,” Ende revealed in an interview with People. The author went on to claim Fantastica reappeared without Bastian’s creativity, and that was the “essence of the book.”

I fully agree. The film is also only the first half of the book. In addition, the Hensonesque dragon is nothing like I envisioned him in the book.

For a 10 year old (I think that’s how old I was, and the heroes of the book, roughly) this is not an easy read. However, unlike in the film, the narrative gently deals with difficult topics that are not unknown to young minds. Certainly one reason why I devoured it. It made me feel understood. In that sense I’d say it’s less creepy than the film. It also has a realistically happy end.