The Wilhelm

 

If you've never heard of the Wilhelm before, then let me enlighten you to this fun and very obscure bit of film trivia. Basically, the Wilhelm is a rather unique scream that hollywood sound engineers have been using since the 1950's as a bit of an inside joke. Originally used in the 1951 film Distant Drums, the sound clip had fallen out of use until the late 70's, when sound designer Ben Burtt found it and decided to use it in a little film he was working on at the time.  That little film was a small budget sci-fi film you may have heard of before...it was called Star Wars.

 

The Wilhelm's revival came from motion picture sound designer Ben Burtt, who re-discovered the original recording (which he found as a studio reel labeled "Man being eaten by alligator") and incorporated it into a scene in Star Wars. Although the identity of the individual who recorded the scream (which was actually one of a series of six) is unknown, Burtt uncovered documentation suggesting the scream might have been recorded by singer Sheb Wooley, who was one of the actors in Distant Drums. Burtt named the scream after "Pvt. Wilhelm", a minor character who emitted the same scream in the 1953 film The Charge at Feather River. Burtt began incorporating the effect in other films he worked on, including Raiders of the Lost Ark. Other sound designers picked up on the effect, and inclusion of the sound in pictures became a tradition among the community of sound designers. It is also featured in the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, when the main villain, Mola Ram, is eaten by alligators.

 

I guarantee you you've heard the scream before. Aside from showing up in every Star Wars film (both the original trilogy and the crappy trilogy), the scream can also be heard in every Indiana Jones Film (and many episodes of the Young Indiana Jones TV series) and in other films such as Willow, Beauty and the Beast, Batman Returns, Rersevoir Dogs, the Lord of the Rings films, Toy Story and many, many more.

 

Don't believe me? Then just check this out:

 



 

I guarantee you that after watching that, you will never again NOT be able to hear the scream when it appears in movies or on TV shows.  I don't know what it is about the scream, but something in it is so over the top yet charming that it seems to fit in any situation that it's thrown into.  And it stands out.  I mean it when I say once you recognize it, you can't NOT hear it.  When I go to films now and it plays I instantly recognize it, and after having seen the original clip it was used in I can't help but picture a guy with an arrow sticking out of his leg when I hear it.  It makes me smile every single time I hear it.

 

So wow your friends with this totally nerdy little bit of trivia the next time you're at a party, or if you're just hanging out and watching a movie and the Wilhelm comes on.  Lord over them with your massive amount of movie knowledge. 

 

And tell 'em Geek-tastic told you about it!