Tarzan yell Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! {{Short description|Signature sound of Tarzan}} {{listen|filename=John Weissmuller's MGM Tarzan Yell.ogg|title=Weissmuller's famous "Tarzan yell"|description=audio sequence extracted from one of Weissmuller's Tarzan movies|format=[[Ogg]]}} The '''Tarzan yell''' or '''Tarzan's jungle call''' is the distinctive, [[ululation|ululating]] yell of the character [[Tarzan]] as portrayed by actor [[Johnny Weissmuller]] in the films based on the character created by [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] starting with ''[[Tarzan the Ape Man (1932 film)|Tarzan the Ape Man]]'' ([[1932 in film|1932]]). The yell was a creation of the movies based on what Burroughs described in his books as simply "the victory cry of the bull ape." ==History and origin== Although the [[RKO Picture]] version of the Tarzan yell was putatively that of Weissmuller, different stories exist as to how the Tarzan yell was created. One claim is that the yell was developed and recorded by [[opera]] singer Lloyd Thomas Leech. Leech performed opera from the 1940s into the '60s, winning the Chicagoland Music Festival on August 17, 1946, and went on to sing throughout the U.S., touring with several opera companies. Leech recalls inventing the Tarzan yell at a promotional event for the film, where a representative of the studio had said that the yell was still to be decided. Leech suggested a form of yodel as "a real wild sound", and says that he went on to record the cry for the first three Tarzan films, with Weissmuller later learning to perform it himself.<ref name="ERBz1482">{{cite web |first=Bill and Sue-On |last=Hillman |url=http://www.erbzine.com/mag14/1482.html |title=The Victory Cry of Tarzan of the Apes |work=Erbzine.com |volume=1482}}</ref> According to politician [[Bill Moyers]], the yell was created by combining the recordings of three men: one baritone, one tenor, and one [[Hog calling|hog caller]] from Arkansas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.commondreams.org/views/2006/05/22/pass-bread |title=Pass the Bread |first=Bill |last=Moyers |date=22 May 2006 |work=CommonDreams}}</ref> Another widely published notion concerns the use of an [[Music of Austria|Austrian]] [[yodel]] played backwards at abnormally fast speed.{{cn|date=May 2023}} Biographer John Taliaferro recounts how MGM studios "concocted a story that the sound was actually the invention of engineers, who had blended Weissmuller's own voice with a hyena's howl played backward, a camel's bleat, the pluck of a violin, and a soprano's high C. It was a commentary on the mystique of talkies and the bizarre singularity of the yell itself that the public accepted the studio's fib as fact."<ref name="talia">{{Cite book |last=Taliaferro |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZyfRAEJbubMC&pg=PA258 |title=Tarzan Forever: The Life of Edgar Rice Burroughs the Creator of Tarzan |date=2002-01-15 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-7432-3650-8 |pages=258 |language=en}}</ref> Weissmuller maintained that the yell was actually his own voice. His version is supported by his son and by his Tarzan co-star, [[Maureen O'Sullivan]],{{citation needed|date=February 2014}} and biographer John Taliaferro who writes that "the noise was nothing more than Weissmuller's own yodel, which he had acquired, after a fashion, from the German beer halls and immigrant picnics of his youth".<ref name="talia"/> The yell, as used in the six [[MGM]] films, is a [[palindrome]], it sounds the same when played backwards, indicating some manipulation in the sound editing department. The first part of the sound plays normally but when it reaches the half way point, it becomes the same sound but played in reverse.<ref name="ERBz1482" />{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is the official fansite of E.R. Borroughs. It's the work of just one person, but an expert in this matters, so it is not totally unreliable.|date=April 2023}} ==Appearances== *Comedian [[Carol Burnett]] would do the yell on request during a question and answer weekly session on her comedy sketch series ''[[The Carol Burnett Show]]''. She taught it to herself as a young girl and once taught it to opera singer [[Beverly Sills]].<ref>[http://www.ora.tv/larrykingnow/2013/4/17/carol-burnett-on-how-the-tarzan-yell-started "Carol Burnett on how the Tarzan yell started"], ''[[Larry King Now]]'', April 17, 2013</ref> == Trademark == The sound itself is a registered [[trademark]] and [[service mark]], owned by [[Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.]]<ref name="RegTM-toys">{{cite web |url=http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4810:336wx5.2.29 |title=the sound of the famous Tarzan yell |author=Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. |date=December 15, 1998 |publisher=USPTO}}</ref><ref name="RegTM-slots">{{cite web |url=http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4810:336wx5.2.16 |title=the sound of the famous Tarzan yell |author=Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. |date=August 31, 2010 |publisher=USPTO }}</ref><ref name=RegTM-online>{{cite web |url=http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4810:336wx5.2.10 |title=the sound of the famous Tarzan yell |author=Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. |date=January 7, 2014 |publisher=USPTO}}</ref> {{quote|'''Registration Numbers:''' 2210506; 3841800; 4462890.<br />'''Registration Dates:''' December 15, 1998; August 31, 2010; January 7, 2014.<br />'''Description of Mark:''' The mark consists of the sound of the famous ''Tarzan'' yell. The mark is a yell consisting of a series of approximately ten sounds, alternating between the chest and [[falsetto]] registers of the voice, as follow - # a semi-long sound in the chest register, # a short sound up an interval of one octave plus a fifth from the preceding sound, # a short sound down a Major 3rd from the preceding sound, # a short sound up a Major 3rd from the preceding sound, # a long sound down one octave plus a Major 3rd from the preceding sound, # a short sound up one octave from the preceding sound, # a short sound up a Major 3rd from the preceding sound, # a short sound down a Major 3rd from the preceding sound, # a short sound up a Major 3rd from the preceding sound, # a long sound down an octave plus a fifth from the preceding sound.}} Recognition of the trademark's registration within the [[European Union]] is uncertain. In late 2007, the [[Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market]] (OHIM) determined that attempts by ERB, Inc. to maintain such trademark must fail legally, reasoning that "[w]hat has been filed as a graphic representation is from the outset not capable of serving as a graphic representation of the applied-for sound ... The examiner was therefore correct to refuse the attribution of a filing date."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tarzan yell must be written in music for trade mark registration |url=https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/tarzan-yell-must-be-written-in-music-for-trade-mark-registration |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=Pinsent Masons |language=en-GB}}</ref> Regardless, the trademark registration was updated in 2010 (to include slot machines)<ref name="RegTM-slots" /> and 2014 (to include online use).<ref name="RegTM-online" /> ==Other Tarzan yells== The first ever version of the yell can be found in the part-sound serial ''[[Tarzan the Tiger]]'' ([[1929 in film|1929]]). This version is described as a "Nee-Yah!" noise.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0593.html |title=Tarzan the Tiger (1929) |work=ERBzine |volume=0593 |first=Bill & Sue-On |last=Hillman}}</ref> In the [[1932 in radio|1932]] Tarzan [[Serial (radio and television)|radio serial]] with [[James Pierce]], the yell sounds like "Taaar-maan-ganiii". In the [[Mangani|ape language]] mentioned in the Tarzan novels, "Tarmangani" means "White Ape".<ref name=ERBz1482 /> In the 1930s films, [[Jane Porter (Tarzan)|Jane]] (as portrayed by [[Maureen O'Sullivan]]) used her own variation of the Tarzan yell.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://soundandthefoley.com/2013/06/05/that-other-jungle-sound-fixed/|title=That Other Jungle Sound (Fixed) β The Sound and the Foley|date=5 June 2013}}</ref> A very similar cry was used for Burroughs' own Tarzan film, ''[[The New Adventures of Tarzan]]'' ([[1935 in film|1935]]), shot concurrently with the [[MGM]] Weissmuller movies in [[Central America]] with [[Bruce Bennett|Herman Brix]] as a cultured Tarzan. The yell can best be described as a "Mmmmm-ann-gann-niii" sound that gradually rises ever higher in pitch.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0584.html |title=New Adventures of Tarzan (1935) |work=ERBzine |volume=0584 |first=Bill & Sue-On |last=Hillman}}</ref> [[Elmo Lincoln]] recreated his victory cry in a 1952 episode of ''[[You Asked for It]]''.<ref>{{YouTube|id=nL642ldL7O8|title=The first ever Tarzan yell}}</ref> Tarzan's yell is used as a melodic refrain in the [[Baltimora]] single ''[[Tarzan Boy]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-rDXAA1nQ4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Z-rDXAA1nQ4 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Tarzan Boy 42 minute loop|last=Howard Hsu|date=1 March 2013|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> This refrain plays in place of an ordinary Tarzan yell when Haru climbs and struggles to keep his balance on the top of a palm tree in ''[[Beverly Hills Ninja]]''. The refrain was also used in a 1993 jungle-themed advert for Listerine's Cool Mint mouthwash.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKx5uT8px8U |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/tKx5uT8px8U |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Cool Mint Listerine Tarzan Ad|last=jsrambler|date=10 October 2006|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In the 1991 TV series ''[[Land of the Lost (1991 TV series)|Land of the Lost]]'', Christa (played by [[Shannon Day]]) used a similar sounding version of the yell that was used to calm certain animals. ==See also== * [[Wilhelm scream]] * [[Howie scream]] * [[Goofy holler]] * [[Castle thunder (sound effect)|Castle thunder]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * {{cite web |url=http://oe1.orf.at/libero/146362.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091213053048/http://oe1.orf.at/libero/146362.html |archive-date=13 December 2009 |title=Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna plays the Tarzan yell|language=de}} * {{cite web |url=http://www.cracked.com/article_20576_5-classic-pop-culture-moments-actors-made-up-fly_p2.html |title=Classic Pop Culture Moments (Actors Made Up on the Fly) |date=14 August 2013}} * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fQ631n5oGI The Tarzan Yell. Excerpt from the Documentary: "Tarzan: Silver Screen King of the Jungle"] {{Tarzan}} [[Category:Tarzan]] [[Category:Sound effects]] [[Category:Sound trademarks]] [[Category:In-jokes]] [[Category:1932 works]] Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! 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