While much of Star Wars ’ soundscapes are renowned for the buzz of lightsabers and the exhale of Darth Vader, the most recognizable soundbite from George Lucas’ space opera is the one and only Wilhelm scream . Now, the man credited with naming the sound has come forward to admit he cringes at the distinction. Speaking with the Hollywood Reporter , Lucasfilm sound designer Ben Burtt revealed that the iconic scream’s origins didn’t involve the techno-babble of synthesized sounds from the wild.
In actuality, the scream (an archival sound lifted from its original appearance in the 1951 movie Distant Drums ) was an in-joke with his college buddy turned fellow industry professional Richard Anderson—something they would put in their films for their own amusement. “We played this game of one-upmanship for 25 years, just the two of us knowing what we were doing. He would put it in a Quentin Tarantino film and call me up and challenge me to find it.
I put it in an Indiana Jones movie,” Burtt told THR. “It was a private joke. Nobody said a thing.
” As with anything private in Hollywood, Burt and Anderson’s school-age stunt was made public thanks in large part to the internet, which pieced together hearing the scream all over the place. “Now it’s everywhere. I just heard it in a commercial on TV yesterday.
An insurance commercial. It’s just crazy,” Burt said. “I stopped putting it in.
But even when I stopped, my crew would put it in because they felt it had t.