# Movies/TV shows you can ID just from the sound effects **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496 "2008-01-06T14:55:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/1 "2008-01-06T14:55:01Z")
I was posting last night with my TV on in another room, and all I could hear were these repeated warbling _pings_, and I thought to myself, “That has got to be _Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea_.” Yup. So what else can be ID’d so easily? Theme music doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/2 "2008-01-06T14:59:23Z")
Star Trek especially from the bridge noises. Star Wars especially the light sabre duels. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/3 "2008-01-06T15:10:44Z")
_Forbidden Planet_ with all the theremin sounds. Godzilla movies, with the distinctive Godzilla roar. 1953’s _War of the Worlds_, with the heat rays and Green Bolts of Doom. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/4 "2008-01-06T15:23:36Z")
The Law & Order sound. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/5 "2008-01-06T15:34:53Z")
24 (from the phones, the cut to commercials) ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/6 "2008-01-06T16:12:31Z")
Tron, from the sound effects. A single rebound of a disc in the movie is all it takes. Clash of the Titans, the sound of the robotic owl. (Though, that comes close to claiming I can identify Star Wars movies by R2-D2’s chirping, which is pretty unremarkable.) I can’t remember the TV show, but think it was ST:TNG-- there was a constant white-noise sound on the bridge that was, once noticed, practically deafening. For a radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, from the “sound effects.” That show makes me cringe. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/7 "2008-01-06T16:31:31Z")
[bidi-bidi-bidi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twiki) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/8 "2008-01-06T16:32:24Z")
[QUOTE=runner pat] [bidi-bidi-bidi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twiki) [/QUOTE] A pox on you! ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/9 "2008-01-06T17:48:49Z")
Doctor Who - Tardis sound (either “a wheezing-groaning noise” or “vrooop-vrooop-vrooop” depending who you ask) Steve Austin (“jnnng-ng-ng-ng-ng-ng-ng”) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/10 "2008-01-06T22:30:07Z")
[QUOTE=runner pat] [bidi-bidi-bidi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twiki) [/QUOTE] I knew a guy once who could do an absolutely _perfect_ Twiki voice saying, “Bidi-bidi-bidi… Fuck you, Buck!” Left us all in stitches. Another vote for classic _Star Trek_, esp. the Bridge noises, the transporter, tricorders, and tribbles. Also on ST:TNG, the computer noises. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/11 "2008-01-06T22:39:02Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] I knew a guy once who could do an absolutely _perfect_ Twiki voice saying, “Bidi-bidi-bidi… Fuck you, Buck!” Left us all in stitches. [/QUOTE] This reminds me of a short that was produced for Adult Swim based on Evan Dorkin’s _Eltingville_ comics featuring some nerds in a giant trivia battle, the winner of which recieved a rare Boba Fett action figure. One of the characters kept imitating Twiki, much to one of the other character’s annoyance. Just as in the classic game-show episode of _The Honeymooners_ (or the _Animaniacs_ episode which paid tribute to it), the final question turns out to be “Which character says bidi-bidi-bidi?..” and the character answers his friend does. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/12 "2008-01-06T22:44:10Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] Doctor Who - Tardis sound (either “a wheezing-groaning noise” or “vrooop-vrooop-vrooop” depending who you ask) [/QUOTE] Officially it’s “Vwoorp” according to Doctor Who Magazine comic strips. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/13 "2008-01-06T22:58:52Z")
Ah, yes, that’s the spelling. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/14 "2008-01-06T23:36:27Z")
The car-horn _dub-dub_s of any Coyote v. Roadrunner cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/15 "2008-01-07T03:05:32Z")
**The Outer Limits** , from its unique, cheesy, unconvincing Monster Roar that seemed to show up at least once per episode. **Der Trihs** , I was gonna mention Forbidden Planet, but you beat me to it: > [@](#): > > Forbidden Planet with all the theremin sounds. To be nitpicky, I don’t believe Louis and Bebe Barron used a theremin. They invented their own instruments for “electronic tonalities”, and their stuff sounds nothing like the Theremin music you hear in **The day the Earth Stood Still** or the Beach Boys’ "Godd Vibrations, or anything in **theremin: An Electronic Odyssey**. In fact, it’s the very uniqueness of their compsitions that makes me list them – their stuff is easily distinguishable from theremin scores. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/16 "2008-01-07T03:17:23Z")
Sergio Leone westerns: gunshots make that “chirping” sound. The Magnificent Seven: its gunshots sound like “boge-hat!” ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/17 "2008-01-07T03:34:23Z")
NCIS has a fu-wop noise before and after leaving commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/18 "2008-01-07T14:05:22Z")
Law & Order’s “ding.” ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/19 "2008-01-07T14:12:22Z")
Predator’s…noise. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-tv-shows-you-can-id-just-from-the-sound-effects/432496/20 "2008-01-07T14:23:50Z")
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