Movie Where Boys Are Sucked Down Whirlpool, End Up in Magical Land

[Guttersnipe]

When I was a kid, I loved this movie, but only saw it a couple times. Some memories of it might actually be from different movies, as I saw it a long time ago and my memory isn't always up to snuff.

The main characters, two boys I think, are sucked down a watery whirlpool. They end up in a magical land. I believe there are rodent-like inhabitants, or at least one, and the one I'm thinking of is an evil tempter. At one point, a boy tries to read a book, but he can't see the print. I think it was linked to some sort of prophecy.

I'm sorry, that's all I've got. I'm pretty sure it was American.

 

[Alex The G and T]

Probably not, A Descent into the Maelström ; but, perhaps, inspired by?

 

[Guttersnipe]

Probably not, A Descent into the Maelström ; but, perhaps, inspired by?

The whirlpool was a very small feature, iirc, and it was maybe in a water tower, but I might be getting that mixed up with the movie The War.

 

[Guttersnipe]

One detail: The kid can't read the book because there's no print to speak of. As if his inability to understand the concepts therein keeps him from being able to see anything.

 

[Danny McG]

Was it animated or real actors?

 

[Toby Frost]

It's not The Neverending Story or one of its sequels, by any chance?