Alice in Wonderland

The Neverending Story was influenced by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland through its use of a child protagonist entering a separate fantasy world governed by symbolic rather than realistic logic. Both novels present the journey as one of personal discovery, with encounters that challenge the protagonist's understanding of identity and reality. Michael Ende also adopted Lewis Carroll's approach of using fantasy to explore philosophical and psychological ideas instead of focusing solely on adventure, although The Neverending Story develops these themes in its own distinct way.

The film names it twice in the first twenty minutes. Neo is told to follow the white rabbit, and Morpheus offers him the choice by saying he imagines Neo feels a bit like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole. The borrowing is structural rather than decorative: an ordinary person crosses into a world whose rules are internally consistent and wrong, and the story is the business of learning them.

Barrie admires Caroll's work. Both feature child protagonist entering a magical world where conventional rules no longer apply.