This's a Warner Bros. sound effect that is not available on the Warner Bros. Sound Effects Library. It's the original (more or less artificial) recording of Warner Bros.' version of the siren of the German Ju-87 "Junkers" Stuka dive bombers (or the STUKA SIREN for short). One of its earliest uses was in Porky's Hare Hunt (1938).
In most media today, it's usually heard in a very high-pitched, yell-like, processed version known as Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE POWER DIVE SCREAM. Most versions of this sound have been used by Ben Burtt for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. This "apocalyptic howl" was recreated for the 2017 Warner Bros. picture, Dunkirk, by sound designer Richard King.
Similar Variations
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE POWER DIVE SCREAM (a very processed version of the siren; the most common and popular version)
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE POWER DIVE SCREAM, TWO TIMES
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE DIVE AND SWOOP BY (contains a subtle version of the two above)
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - LARGE SUPERSONIC PLANE LAND AND ENGINE WIND DOWN (contains a highly processed, very high-pitched version of Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE POWER DIVE SCREAM)
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON - FAST ANVIL FALL AND IMPACT (Includes Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE POWER DIVE SCREAM in a low pitch)
- Sound Ideas, SCI FI - ROCKET LAND SPEEDER: APPROACH AND PASS BY (Includes Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE POWER DIVE SCREAM in a low pitch)
- Sound Ideas, SCI FI - ROCKET LAND SPEEDER: PASS BY SLOW (Includes Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE POWER DIVE SCREAM in a low pitch)
- Sound Ideas, SCI FI - ROCKET LAND SPEEDER: START AND AWAY (Includes Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE POWER DIVE SCREAM in reverse and a low pitch)
- WB CARTOON, AIRPLANE - JET: PASS BY, 02 (Contains a highly processed version of Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE POWER DIVE SCREAM)
- Hollywoodedge, Plane ASleep Dive En CRT056108 (Includes the Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE POWER DIVE SCREAM variant processed into a very high pitch with a whistle-like sound)
- SKYWALKER, AIRPLANE - STUKA SIREN SCREAM BY, SHORT (may be a heavily processed version of Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE POWER DIVE SCREAM)
- SKYWALKER, SIREN - STUKA SIREN WHOOP (may also be a heavily processed version of Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE POWER DIVE SCREAM)
Used in
TV Shows
- Dexter's Laboratory (Not used, but the score mimics this sound as Dee Dee dives onto Dexter in "The Big Sister")
- Tom and Jerry Tales (heard once in "Bats What I Like About The South" in a different, processed pitch)
Movies
- Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island (1983) (Added to "Curtain Razor" in the overdubbed audio version, with the 500-foot dive, increasing in tone.)
- Flying Tigers (1942) (various pitches, namely the version in "Falling Hare", are used for most diving airplanes)
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) (Heard briefly and sped-up in normal pitch as the cargo plane dives into a mountain)
- Red Tails (2012) (includes various processed variants. Used on shot-down/diving US bombers and German fighter planes)
- The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) (heard when Plankton's wingless bomber falls, mixed with Hollywoodedge, Plane ASleep Dive En CRT056108)
- Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (processed version used for the interior of Snowspeeders)
- Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) (heard as a Rebel pilot is about to crash into the window of a Star Destroyer; Snowspeeder variant I BigIdeas70258 think)
- Up (2009) (used for the biplanes of Muntz's dogs, in various pitches and processed variants)
- Young Indiana Jones and the Attack of the Hawkmen (1995) (used for all of the airplanes diving; cleanest version in existence)
- Wings (1927) (including various processed variants; 2012 version only)
Shorts
- Disney Cartoons (Shorts) (A different-pitched, processed, modified version is Heard once after The Thrifty Pig (1941) in promo following the short as a Nazi plane dives into one of their bombers)
- Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies (Shorts) (Heard in many shorts, and much more often than the more familiar variant Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE POWER DIVE SCREAM. Extended, pitch-increasing versions are also used in "The Heckling Hare" and "Falling Hare")
- Some WWII documentary in the 40s TBA (once, as a Japanese fighter spins down into the ocean, not much of a dive. Heard in a lower, deep processed pitch) [I BigIdeas70258 saw this on the war channel on Filmon]
YouTube Videos
Anime
- The Sky Crawlers (2008) (Heard occasionally, mixed with subtle variants of LOONEY TUNES CARTOON FALL SOUND)
Image Gallery
Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies WB SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL
Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies WB SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL
Red Tails WB, SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL
Red Tails WB, SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL (1/2)
Red Tails WB, SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL (2/2)
Red Tails WB, SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL (processed, slightly higher-pitched?)
Red Tails WB SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL
Red Tails WB SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL
The Sky Crawlers WB SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL (sped-up)
The Sky Crawlers WB SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL and LOONEY TUNES CARTOON FALL SOUND
The Sky Crawlers WB SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL and LOONEY TUNES CARTOON FALL SOUND (low volume)
The Sky Crawlers WB SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL and LOONEY TUNES CARTOON FALL SOUND (elongated in holding pitch)
.png "Sky Crawlers WB Stuka Siren and LOONEY TUNES CARTOON FALL SOUND 04 (reverse).png (416 KB)")
The Sky Crawlers WB SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL and LOONEY TUNES CARTOON FALL SOUND (both ascending in pitch)
The Sky Crawlers WB SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL and LOONEY TUNES CARTOON FALL SOUND
The Sky Crawlers WB SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL and LOONEY TUNES CARTOON FALL SOUND (elongated in holding pitch)
The Sky Crawlers WB SIREN - STUKA SIREN HOWL (elongated in holding pitch, low volume)
Audio Samples
Currently, there are no audio samples available; if you want to find one, it can probably be found in classic Looney Tunes and Warner Bros WWI/WWII pictures. The cleanest version can be heard in "Attack of the Hawkmen" (the first/ascending half). The descending half (lower quality) can be found in Red Tails and Wings (2012 print), modified more or less with echo and other effects.