Tarzan yell

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The Tarzan yell is the distinctive, ululating yell of the character Tarzan, as portrayed by actor Johnny Weissmuller in the films based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Although the yell ostensibly was that of Weissmuller, different stories exist as to how the sound effect was created. According to the newspaper columnist L. M. Boyd (circa 1970), "Blended in with that voice are the growl of a dog, a trill sung by a soprano, a note played on a violin's G string and the howl of a hyena recorded backward." According to Bill Moyers, it was created by combining the recordings of three men: one baritone, one tenor, and one hog caller from Arkansas.[1] Another widely published notion concerns the use of an Austrian yodel played backwards at abnormally fast speed.

The Tarzan yell is often used for comic effect in later, unrelated movies, particularly when a character is swinging on vines or doing other "Tarzanesque" things. The sound clip used in the Weissmuller films has also been exclusively used for animated series appearances of Tarzan, rather than having the actor providing Tarzan's voice for the series attempt to imitate the trademark yell.

An even weirder cry was used for Burroughs' own Tarzan films, shot concurrently with the MGM Weismuller movies in Central America with Herman Brix as a cultured Tarzan. The yell can best be described as a sound that gradually rises ever higher in pitch.

The sound itself has been trademarked by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. [2]

Contents 1 Tarzan yell in film and television 2 Media 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Tarzan yell in film and television

Non Tarzan related films and television shows where the Weissmuller Tarzan yell can be heard include:

• The Carol Burnett Show (1967-1978), in which Carol Burnett, the hostess, specializes in frequent renditions of the yell.
• Harold and Maude (1971), in which Maude performs the yell in an open field, Harold standing near their picnic blanket.
• Every Which Way But Loose (1978), in the lake scene Philo (Clint Eastwood) jumps from a tree and gives the Weissmuller Tarzan yell.
• Octopussy (1983), when James Bond is swinging on vines through a jungle in India
• Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), this was actually the first appearance, in terms of production dates of the Star Wars films, of the Wookiee version of the yell; Chewbacca shouts it as he and a pair of Ewoks swing from a vine onto the top of an AT-ST. The sound effect was re-used for Episode III.
• The Emperor's New Groove (2000), Pacha does the yell while swinging on a vine in an attempt to save Emperor Kuzco from a pack of jaguars.
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), during the battle on Kashyyyk, voiced by a Wookiee warrior; the pitch of it having been altered slightly to resemble the deep and gravelly voice characteristic of the Wookiee race.
• Short Circuit 2 (1988), Johnny 5 plays a reocording of the Tarzan yell as an alarm.

[edit] Media

[edit] See also

• Wilhelm scream
• Goofy holler

[edit] External links

• The Tarzan yell