Wilhelm scream

The Wilhelm scream is a stock sound effect first recorded in 1951 for the movie Distant Drums. It has been featured in over 400 movies and TV series since. Alongside a certain recording of the cry of the red-tailed hawk, the "Universal Telephone Ring" and "Castle Thunder," it is probably the most well-known cinematic sound in history. It is believed to have been provided by actor/singer Sheb Wooley. The scream was recorded in six takes, with Distant Drums using the fifth take for the scene for which it was recorded, in which a soldier is devoured by an alligator while his platoon crosses a river.

The Wilhelm's revival came from Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt, who tracked down the original recording (which he found as a studio reel labeled "Man being eaten by alligator"). He named it after Wilhelm, a minor character who emitted the scream in the 1953 movie The Charge at Feather River. Its use in Star Wars was the beginning of something of an in-joke amongst some sound designers of the film industry, especially at Skywalker Sound. Star Wars media most commonly uses either Take 4, which has become known among enthusiasts as the "classic" Wilhelm scream, or Take 3, though Take 1 has sometimes been used as well.

In his endnotes for The Essential Guide to Warfare, Jason Fry hinted that the Wilhelm scream was uttered in the holodrama The Charge at Feather Nebula.

On February 22, 2018, sound editor Matthew Wood revealed that Lucasfilm has decided to not use the Wilhelm scream anymore following the release of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens and instead replace it with a new stock sound effect.

Text and facts from the “Wilhelm scream” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.