# The Never Ending Story **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 26, 2002, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-never-ending-story/138820 "2002-11-26T03:02:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-never-ending-story/138820/1 "2002-11-26T03:02:39Z")
I search but came up empty-handed even though i was sure this was discussed before. (maybe we lost the thread with all those others months ago) But anyway, at the very end of the movie, Bastian is ordered by the Empress to call out her name. So he goes to window and yells something very incomprehensible. Any clue what he shouts? ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-never-ending-story/138820/2 "2002-11-26T03:08:36Z")
Here you go: [Moon Child thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=118944) ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-never-ending-story/138820/3 "2002-11-26T03:11:59Z")
Whoa, here’s another one. [the other Moon Child thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=101557), somewhat longer. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-never-ending-story/138820/4 "2002-11-26T03:18:55Z")
Thanks for the links darling. I gotta go with Kyomara on this though. > [@](#): > > But if the point really is that he named the princess “Moon Child,” than this movie has just taken another step down on the dumb scale as far as I’m concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-never-ending-story/138820/5 "2002-11-26T06:48:23Z")
Well, **Muldoon** , it was supposedly the name of Bastien’s mother, and I think that actually came straight from the book – so if you don’t like it, don’t blame the movie! I guess Bastien’s mother was a hippie? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-never-ending-story/138820/6 "2002-11-26T07:19:35Z")
Or maybe Bastien’s grandparents were the hippies? ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-never-ending-story/138820/7 "2002-11-26T15:24:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monstre \* > **Well, Muldoon, it was supposedly the name of Bastien’s mother, and I think that actually came straight from the book – so if you don’t like it, don’t blame the movie!** Well, that’s partly right. The name “Moon Child” does come directly from the book, but in the book, it was never identified as being Bastian’s mother’s name. In fact, one of the peculiar differences between the movie and the book is that Bastian’s mother is _never_ named in the book. Same goes for Bastian’s father…indeed, I have noticed that Bastian’s parents are virtually the only significant adult characters in the book that are never named. In the book, the inspiration for the name “Moon Child” came from Bastian’s first vision of the Childlike Empress: > [@](#): > > Bastian knew that he had never in all his life seen anything as beautiful as this face. And in that same moment he knew her name: Moon Child. Yes, beyond a doubt, that was her name. > > _from The Neverending Story, p. 142, Penguin Books edition_ ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-never-ending-story/138820/8 "2002-11-26T15:51:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, that’s partly right. The name “Moon Child” does come directly from the book, but in the book, it was never identified as being Bastian’s mother’s name. Oops, my mistake – I guess I was just remembering the bit from the movie. On NES, I bow to the master, **Atreyu**. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Engywook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bc8723/32.png) [@Engywook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engywook)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-never-ending-story/138820/9 "2002-11-26T17:24:37Z")
Carl Coreander Conrad and I had lunch the other day, and we were talking about the Childlike Empress’s new name. He was hoping I could ask her about that for him, since he’s already met her once and is thus not allowed to see her again. I told him no friggin way, I’m not going to waste my one meeting on that. Then I went back to cleaning the luckdragon shit out of my observatory. Falkor poop floats, you know. Urgl and I are still finding these drifting little turdlings… ah, but that is another story and shall be told another time. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2002, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-never-ending-story/138820/10 "2002-11-26T17:40:36Z")
[Lionel Hutz]“Mr. Simpson, this is the most blatant case of false advertising since my suit against the movie _The Neverending Story_”[/Hutz]