Minor spoilers ahead for A Minecraft Movie.

The team behind A Minecraft Movie shared with IGN that one of the film's most hilarious scenes drew inspiration from The NeverEnding Story. In a memorable moment, Jack Black's character, Steve, finds himself needing to fly on Jason Momoa's Garrett due to a shortage of Elytra wings, which are only available for Garrett and Sebastian Hansen's character, Henry. This scene turns into a comedic spectacle as Steve clings to Garrett, trying desperately not to plummet from a great height.

Director Jared Hess explained, "We definitely wanted a Falkor moment from The Neverending Story that was both majestic and beautiful, but also one that goes south pretty quickly." The scene's humor was amplified during filming, as producer Torfi Frans Ólafsson recalled, "It was so funny in between takes when they cut. Jack is sitting on top of Jason and they're in this complicated rig... and Jack starts singing, because he does that in between scenes, but he starts singing the words to The NeverEnding Story and riding him like he's riding Falkor."

This playful nod is particularly amusing because Jack Black previously played Slip in The NeverEnding Story 3. Jason Momoa, who played a key role in bringing the scene to life, also contributed to its development. He shared, "I got to participate in writing that, and this big guy [Jack Black] wanted to do it too. This was after Top Gun: Maverick came out, so I also wanted to be able to go into it and then hit the brakes and then have them slide down and I switcheroo on them. We were sitting there at the hotel dying about this idea of Jack and I doing this stunt and it made it [into the movie] and it's phenomenal."

Jack Black added a humorous note about the scene's potential, saying, "I don't know if it made it in the final cut because there were different versions of that scene, but it could have gone hard rated R. In the end, I think we made it family-friendly!"

A Minecraft Movie Gallery

20 ImagesMomoa also humorously reenacted the on-set dynamics, encouraging viewers to watch the video for a firsthand look. He quipped, "Let my hips guide you! You can't just ride me like I'm majestic. I was dying, man. I was dying."

For more insights, explore our A Minecraft Movie review, learn about the private server used by the team during production, and delve into our explainer of the film's ending and post-credits scene.