Moon Child?

E. M. | April 19, 2005
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Scott Hardie | April 19, 2005
At least it wasn't Moon Unit.

Today I read this interesting take on white people naming children after Native American tribes: (link) In a nutshell, it's the same old story about how Americans take something pretty from a foreign culture without giving any consideration to whether it might offend them.

Anna Gregoline | April 19, 2005
Really? I thought we weren't supposed to know what he says. I sure never knew. Figured it was a "Pulp Fiction" (What's in the suitcase?) or a "Lost in Translation" moment, something supposed to be obscured. "Moon Child" is pretty bad.

Scott Hardie | April 19, 2005
I think it's in the subtitles on the DVD or something like that.

One of the key plot points in "The Two Jakes" hinges on a mangled and barely-intelligible reel-to-reel tape that is played several times during the movie and gradually reveals its meaning as characters discuss it. What happens if you watch the movie with the subtitles on? They print exactly what is said on the tape every time, spoiling the mystery.

Anna Gregoline | April 19, 2005
I think I've only seen Neverending Story on video. =)

I'm not familiar with The Two Jakes, but that is absolutely horrible, Scott. I wonder how often stuff like that happens?

Amy Austin | April 19, 2005
That's hilarious... kind of like the Hungarian title for "The Usual Suspects"!

However, I had read a lot of other discussion on the subject before E decided to start one here. I was specifically looking for this answer, and as it turns out:

1) There was a book before there was a movie (something I did not know), and it was originally in German (maybe Lori has read it??? ;-D) -- the name in the book, according to those claiming to have read it, has nothing to do with his mother... he just says that he would give her "the most beautiful name", which, in fact, is "Mondekind" (sp?) and translates from German into "Moon Child".

2) Some DVDs *don't* actually include this on the sub-titling... I guess it depends on what year you bought it or who did the inputting for it, or whatever. Like Anna, I guess I just sort of always believed that we weren't really supposed to know. In fact, although the kid playing Bastian answered this question at some convention-type thing (according to another poster... he has said that it was, indeed, "Moon Child"), I believe that it was intentionally obscured by the musical score to play up the drama of it and to emphasize that it was something that could have been provided by any child's imagination -- he just happened to have been the one reading the book at the moment. Plus, they probably thought that the audience might say the same thing: "His mother's name was 'Moon Child'???" Not so hard to believe in the mid-80s, though, especially since Dweezil and Moon Unit were already around by then! But, according to those who have read the book, this little tidbit about it being his mother's name was only a movie add-in anyway, so it's like they created this whole little tiny sub-plot about the name, just for the movie!

In this little search for what Bastian yells out the window, I also discovered something that I am *very* glad that I didn't know when the movie first came out. I cannot really speak to the veracity of it, since it came from bloggers, but they sounded both genuine and knowledgable on the events. Apparently, due to some horrible lift tragedy, "Artex" the horse actually did drown in the filming of that scene where Atreyu loses him in the swamp:

The horses legs were strapped to the lift to keep him from struggling and trying to jump out of the pool there are some websites that actually show the rest of the footage of the horse sinking under water and the crew trying to free him from it. but I doubt you would want to see that. It made me sick to my stomach.

...sorry to tell you but the horse did die in production the lift to lift the horse out malfunctioned and the horse actually drowned on set. Noah was heart broken for two weeks and didnt work because of that. Apparently Artax was the same horse Noah practiced on for 2 months learning to ride bare back....I hope i helped with your question.

Anna Gregoline | April 19, 2005
Oh my god that's horrible, Amy! I feel heartbroken now. =(

Amy Austin | April 19, 2005
Yeah, that's how I felt, too. Like I said before, I'm *really* glad that I didn't know it when the movie first came out -- can't you just imagine your 12-year-old self (or younger for some) coping with this information??? I don't think I'd have wanted to see the movie!

Anna Gregoline | April 19, 2005
God, I already cried my eyes out during that part, I would have been traumatized if I'd known it was REAL!

Amy Austin | April 19, 2005
I *know*... if you just do a search for "Artex died" you will find at least a dozen random comments on the first page about people remembering how that scene affected them. Shoot!... I was upset about the little racing snail trio that Rockbiter lost to the Nothing!

Lori Lancaster | April 19, 2005
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Scott Hardie | April 19, 2005
Wow. I haven't heard that one before. It sounds like an urban legend to me, but that's because I've heard so many of them about movies, like the hanging munchkin, or the ghost of the little boy in "Three Men and a Baby." I can't find proof or disproof on any site of apparent authority, only claims by bloggers and message board posters. The only thing on a semi-trustworthy site I could find was that the IMDb mentions that the actor got his foot caught on the elevator mechanism and was pulled underwater and nearly drowned, but it says nothing about the horse. :-\

My Google skillz are much weaker than yours because of the goo game, I'm sure. If anybody finds something definitive, I'd appreciate it. (See, Ed? I told you that you'd come to value prolonged participation in the goo game. :-) )

Amy Austin | April 19, 2005
Yeah, I didn't really look into it extensively enough to corroborate, and having heard my share of movie myths, too, I don't really know why I found this one plausible -- I guess animals are just my extreme soft spot. It does sound a bit sketchy (the additional website film footage, especially), but I found it at least noteworthy.

Jackie Mason | April 21, 2005
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Amy Austin | April 22, 2005
Well, 1) I'm not sure anymore -- it *could* be an urban movie myth, as Scott suggested, and 2) I don't think you can see his lips, as he's looking upward and away from the camera. Based on what I've read, though, I'm convinced that "Moon Child" is correct.

Amy Austin | April 24, 2005
I *just* watched the swamp scene again only moments ago, and I don't think I can buy that the horse really died.

Amy Austin | April 24, 2005
HA... Wrong again! He *is* facing the camera out the window, and you can see his mouth move in between two flashes of lightning. Not the clearest sounding thing in the world, of course, but it obviously is "Moon Child".

E. M. | April 25, 2005
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Jackie Mason | April 25, 2005
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