Couldn't stand to watch this without Noah

I will admit, the last time I saw this film was when it was out in theaters, and I was a child. I don't remember a whole lot about it, but what sticks out in my mind is that they changed the cast. The first Neverending Story was my favorite film as a child, and I had a huge crush on Atreyu. So you can imagine a little girl's disappoinment when he was played by another actor in the sequel! So what if Noah was a teenager? He could have been an older, really hot Atreyu! Like I said, I don't remember a whole lot about this movie, but I remember not thinking it was not very good, regardless of the cast. Was there a scene at the beginning where Bastian is afraid to jump off a diving board? I think I remember something like that. Anyway, they should have known that people who loved the original would be attached to the original actors.