If you were a child in the 80’s or 90’s I’m sure you’re familiar with the movie, The NeverEnding Story. There are many characters that stick out in my mind from the film. Atreyu, Bastion, Faclor, and of course the Child-like Empress. She was a character that helped save an entire kingdom, and inspired many people to chase their dreams in real life. The movie came out in 1984 and was visually stunning with larger-than-life special effects that brought the fantasy world of Fantasia to life.
I was given the amazing opportunity to speak with Tami Stronach. She brought life to the Child-like Empress in the film. In this interview we talked about her past role in The NeverEnding Story, what she’s been up to since then, and her current project, the Paper Canoe Company.
Can you tell me about your experiences in being approached to play as the child-like empress in the never ending story?
Yea of course, so that was all a very happy accident. I was involved in a lot of theater and dance classes as a kid. And, I happened to be in an acting class in San Francisco at the time that they were casting The NeverEnding Story. The casting agent was friends with my acting teacher, so she stopped by for a lunch break between casting sessions. She saw me at the tail-end of a class and invited me to come the next day and audition. And, that’s how it all happened. I didn’t have an agent, I wasn’t trying to audition to be in films. But, I just happened to be at the right place at the right time, and sometimes that happens.
Your role as the child-like empress made me feel like if I could dream something, I could make it a reality. I know I’m not the only one. When you hear that from fans, what’s your reaction?
That makes me feel so happy, I think that’s such a beautiful way to phrase it, the way that you put it. And, I think that’s the reason the film has stuck around despite it being outdated in terms of special effects. But, I think those kinds of stories reinforce the idea that if you can dream it you can do it, as you said. They are the stories we need to keep going. It’s a rough world and it’s not that easy to carve out the things you believe would make your life better. And, the life of people around you better. So, I think we need stories like The NeverEnding Story.
Could you tell me a little about Paper Canoe Company?
Sure. So I founded Paper Canoe Company after the birth of my daughter. I had been a choreographer and a dancer in New York City for 20 years. I was also working with some theater companies performing on stage. But, all of the work was not family-oriented. After I had my daughter I just really wanted to find a way to create work that would be meaningful to her. My head just drifted towards the kinds of stories that are important to kids. I was reading books to her and I was listening to CD’s. As a parent you really become curious about kids content and what it’s doing. I could see that stories were really impacting her and shaping her sense of what was possible in the world. What was right, what was wrong, and she was kind of functioning as a little emotional gymnasium.
I could really see how meaningful these stories that we tell young people are in creating a sense of possibility and a sense of what the world could be, how it should be, and what kind of world that they might want to participate in bringing into being. The stories are built to be interesting for people and little people from ages 2-100. I feel like there’s a way in which the content that we give our kids that if we expect them to be able to handle aesthetically sophisticated stuff, and morally complex stuff, and rich stories with depth that they will appreciate it. And, the same thing with adults.
I think adults can get so overloaded and serious. To go back to The NeverEnding Story, sometimes you kind of disconnect from the child within, and imagination. It’s easy to do that. I have so much sympathy for that. It’s a constant struggle to keep that part of ourselves alive. I think stories are a place where the kid in adults can wake up again, and that’s really the mission of Paper Canoe. To make kids feel like adults and to make adults feel like kids.
In your music video “Hey Wow” you make an appearance that many may not recognize. You were stuffed in a giant teddy bear. Could you tell us more about that experience?
It was very uncomfortable, it was so hot in there. Part of what I’m really interested in doing with Paper Canoe is creating really fun visuals that have a high aesthetic bar. Everything in that video is hand painted. It’s all stuff we didn’t buy, and basically all the toys in the video were toys that my friends were giving away. The toys were headed to the dump, or the Salvation Army.
So a big thing that I’m interested in doing is encouraging families to look around their house and recycle things and reimagine purposes for everyday objects. So, I found this enormous bear. Initially it was going to be a robot that dances with her. But, I saw that I could mostly fit into the bear. And, so I just gutted it, un-stuffed it, and climbed inside. We all started laughing, we all thought it was funny. So that’s how the bear entered the picture.
Part of the aesthetic of Paper Canoe is that you can take this blank piece of paper, put a few folds in it, set it on a lake, and your imagination is ignited. You’re on a journey. How do you take everyday household objects? How do you take all the things that are all around you and just work with them so a story can emerge. All the puppets we make are from recycled materials. But, handled the right way with finesse and love everyday objects kind of transform into these magical things. That’s the space I’m really interested in exploring and awakening in other kids so they can do these things on their own.
