TARZAN

Oh look, an iconic sound effect that doesn't come from science fiction. Well action films have also given us a fair few sound design gems over the years. Tarzan's yell is so unique that you cannot use it for anything other than referring to Tarzan.




The sound itself is, depending on which version you belief, either Johnny Weismuller himself or an edited version from multiple sources. Rather than just re-write wikipedia's article, go and read this yourself. It's a masterpiece of editing and compositing either way (the sound, not the Wiki article, that is).

The sound used for the call in the Weismuller versions of Tarzan was so perfect and beloved that it was a very brave Tarzan producer who didn't include its use. It must be a licensing nightmare but one that is justified by audience expectation. Other Tarzan movies have attempted their own version of a Tarzan call as described by Rice Burroughs in his books but this quickly became futile after the scream went viral in the days before YouTube and Reddit. Even now, years since any major Tarzan adaptation, everyone knows the Tarzan yell, even if they don't know what Tarzan is. The yell is now bigger than the property that spawned it. It would be as if people recognised the sound of a lightsaber but didn't know it was from Star Wars.


Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan the Ape Man was a popular property for much of the 20th Century back when South American jungle locations were considered exotic. Tourism and Karl Pilkington has cured the world of that so I can't see Tarzan coming back for anything other than a movie every now and then and an occasional cheaply-made syndicated series for kids. At each stage of pre-production, there would be serious discussions on how they handle the yell. Do they go for a new version, a cover (as in Disney's animated film) or the original and possible derision?

 But that yell...