History Main / NoisyNature

* In ''Ivory Extraordinaire'', an alternate Earth dominated by amphibians is considered creepy because the native animals don't have voices. Ironic, considering how frogs and toads are among the few taxa that ''can'' be as noisy as depicted in film, but justified because the beasts on Amphibia are more akin to Permian-era labyrinthodonts and the like.

** There's a roaring shark in ''SharkAttack3Megalodon'' too. And I seem to recall a roaring giant squid in the adaptation of Peter Benchley's ''The Beast'' too.

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** Though this is played with in ''[[TheLordOfTheRings FellowshipOfTheRing]]'' where, judging by their extremely cacophonic cries, Saruman's scary flock of avian spies are evidently Starlings (yes, they've invaded New Zealand too.)

*** The squid actually made a distorted shriek/screech, like a giant mechanical eagle (or red-tailed hawk). Going back a little further, Brucette in ''Jaws III'' also growled whenever she opened her mouth (though it was a very deep watery sound that you might miss most of the time), and a soft echoing roar is heard when Bruce's decapitated body sinks into the abyss at the end of "Jaws" (though that's merely symbolic).
* ''BeastWars'' spiders Tarantulas and Black Arrachnia and [[StockDinosaurs velociraptor]] Dinobot speak in near constant hiss, and Tigatron and Airrazor have rather vocal beast modes. Megatron, of course, speaks in constant [[LargeHam ham]], no matter which mode he's in.

* Inversion: Contrast to popular belief, fish actually make a lot of sound with a surprising variety. However, human ear isn't very trained to hear these.

* ''Prancer'' has it all too: an injured Reindeer who won't stay quiet and [[CuteButCacophonic bellows at maximum volume all the time]], and ''Spring'' Peepers chirping in the mddle of a Christmas Eve [[DreamingOfAWhiteChristmas blizzard]]. A-ha.

* And let us not forget the ''MysteryScienceTheatreThreeThousand MST3K]]'' classic, ''[[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Werewolf]]'', which takes place in Flagstaff, Arizona. It has every variation of this trope: Wolf-people who never shut up, growling and howling at everything. Red-tailed Hawks crying at ''night''. A crappy Werewolf puppet who ''makes the calls of a hawk and a bat'' ([=WTF=] seems sadly inefficient here). And a soundtrack that uses every one of these animal calls as its {{Scare Chord}}s.
** Another feature on ''MST3K'', ''CaveDwellers'', has roaring ''snakes''.

[[AC:MMORPGs]]
* In ''{{City Of Heroes}}'', if you're a Controller and happen to have Plant Control in your power set, congratulations! You're the proud owner of roaring man eating plants and vines.
* WorldOfWarcraft is a repeat offender. If it attacks you it will make a very large amount of noise, even if it lacks a mouth to roar at you with.

A potential WallBanger for tropers who know their stuff about animals. Not to be confused with CuteButCacophonic. Noisy forests also tend to be places where [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Everything is Trying To Kill You]]. See also MisplacedWildlife, AllAnimalsAreDogs, and BugBuzz. Use of StockSoundEffects is a common culprit. Possibly related to SmallReferencePools.

* All fictional lizards (the [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent cute ones, at least]]) seem to make the same weird nasal growling noise. The trailer for ''Nim's Island'' featured an impossibly talkative bearded dragon. As an owner of four of that species, one troper can attest that they only hiss - and they'll do ''that'' only if you try to give them a bath.
* When she was 10 years old, one troper saw a documentary on big cats where they gave a cheetah a fierce roar. When they failed to point out that cheetahs do ''not'' roar (they chirp!), she turned off the TV and took refuge in the encyclopedia.

** One example that particularly disturbed this troper took place in the ''SuzumiyaHaruhi'' episode "Remote Island Syndrome Part 1", in which there was a ''gull'' with the call of a red-tailed hawk. Yes, a gull. Yeah, they can scream but seriously people.

*** Also, ThisTroper could've sworn she remembers [[DeadpanSnarker Kyon]] lampshade it, in a facial expression if not a verbal comment.

** Just to bring things full circle, one troper has actually seen a few instances where this is used for the cry of a Red-Tailed Hawk. D'oh!

* Big cats, not matter how adorable they are as cubs, no matter how tame they are, no matter how friendly they are with your protagonist, ''CAN NOT PURR''. This troper can't think of any specific examples, even though it drives her crazy every time she hears it.
** What, ThatTroper thinks that [[http://www.lionresearch.org/faq.html lions aren't big cats]]?
** Actually, big cats do purr, but they use a different mechanism than small cats - the same one they use for growling. Thusly, they can only purr while breathing outward, whereas small cats can purr whether they're inhaling or exhaling. Big cats also purr less often than their little cousins, and it's usually mistaken for a growl, anyway.
** As shown on one segment of ''The Tonight Show'', cheetahs can purr.
*** Cheetahs, pumas and lynxes aren't actually big cats, despite their size - they're ''felinae'', like housecats, and can purr just like them.
** [[{{Calvin And Hobbes}} It's growling friendly-like]].
** This Troper's local bird sanctuary has an adolescent cheetah and in order to prove he was happy in very un-Savannah like Kent his handler held their microphone near to him - lo and behold, very deep but unmistakeable purring.

A cat comes into a room and announces herself with a meow. An owl's image appears on screen, hooting perfectly on cue. A horse rears up with a dramatic bugle or falls with a whinny of protest. Dogs bark, birds chirp, snakes hiss, and so on exactly where, when, and how [[RuleOfPerception you'd expect]]...

Cats tend to be quiet unless they want something and the same goes for horses and dogs, though they will whinny and bark if they are excited by something. Owls only hoot to announce they've claimed such and such a spot and the same generally goes for every bird's song, every canine's howl, and so on. An animal who has been hurt in all likelihood will not react vocally ''at all'', except for maybe one brief yelp at the moment of injury - it's [[EverythingTryingToKillYou too dangerous]] to announce your incapacitation by sitting there crying for aid. On that note, all the fictional predators who [[CallingYourAttacks let out a blood-curdling roar/scream/whatever]] as they attack their prey are idiots (unless, of course, the scream is [[MakeMeWannaShout ''part'' of the attack]]). Anyone who's watched how carefully their cat goes after a flock of sparrows can attest that if [[WithCatlikeTread you make any noise at all]] they'll go flying.

* Go into any wooded area during spring/mating season. Try to take a nape. See how difficult it is.

*** And then there are the Gekkos, which run around making cow noises in ''Guns of the Patriots''.

* Every owl in the world goes "hoot". Every single one. Except for the Screech Owl. They must certainly make a blood-curdling scream as advertised (see "My Cousin Vinnie"). Not, you know, a distinctive hooting. [[http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/audio/Eastern_Screech-Owl.html A cute distinctive hooting, even...]] (In reality, the owls that make bloodcurdling screams are ''Barn'' Owls.)

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'''Misplaced [[strike:Wildlife]] Cries'''
* Nearly every jungle scene, no matter what the intended location, features [[http://www.ausinternet.com/ettamogah/kooka1.wav the distinctive call of the Kookaburra]], only native to dry upland areas in Australia, probably because many uninformed people mistake it for a generic primate's "ooh ooh ahh."
** Hilariously, in Jesus Franco's ''Count Dracula'' (1973) you hear the kookaburra call ''in the Borgo Pass.''
** [[IndianaJones Raiders of the Lost Ark]] has a kookaburra in the South American Jungle
** [[BlackNarcissus Black Narcissus]] had one in the Himalayas!
** The Kookaburra is one of the many completely misplaced animals that turn up in the ''Swiss Family Robinson''.
** An edited kookaburra sound provided {{Flipper}}'s famous chatter.
* [[http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Common_Loon_dtl.html Common Loons]] are very large, somewhat rare aquatic birds who are also known as The Great Northern Diver. In reality, they tend to be heard almost exclusively around their natural habitat: large bodies of open water in cold parts of the Northern Hemisphere. According to movie logic, they are '''everywhere'''. Even shallow swamplands, the middle of a forest, the middle of a ''mountain range'' (!?!), [[{{Lost}} Craphole Island]], and the planet where {{The Dark Crystal}} takes place. Their cry ''is'' evocative, so RuleOfCool can make some instances work - as long as they're believable.
* Heck, any stock horror scene where all the animals in the forest are apparently ganging up to scare the hell out of the protagonist by making startling cries. For no other reason. At night.
** In particular, [[CarnivoreConfusion Crows and Ravens]] in horror movies must suffer mean cases of insomnia and have nothing better to do. In reality, corvids are... well the only term for it really is that they are afraid of the dark! (More specifically, the [[ParanoiaFuel anxiety-fueling fact that they can't see well in the dark]], not to mention the larger carnivores who ''are'' active at night.)

* Every owl in the world goes "hoot". Every single one. Except for the Screech Owl. They must certainly make a blood-curdling scream as advertised (see "My Cousin Vinnie"). Not, you know, a distinctive hooting. [[http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/audio/Eastern_Screech-Owl.html A cute distinctive hooting, even...]] (In reality, the owls that make bloodcurdling screams are ''Barn'' Owls.)
* The Pacific tree frog is the only kind of frog that very definitely goes "ribbit". It's the frog that lives in California, which is why Hollywood believes frogs everywhere in the world go "ribbit". There are, technically, a few other amphibians [[YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries in America]] whose song sounds like ribbiting - but they're toads. Actual frogs tend to make [[http://allaboutfrogs.org/weird/general/songs.html chirping, burping, beeping, or trilling calls]].
** There's a species on the east coast around the Carolinas that very clearly says "HNAAAAGH!" with a volume out of ''all'' proportion to its size.
** In Japan, frogs go "kero kero".
** Bullfrogs call for "Rrrrrum" and Green Frogs call for "Doug"!
* Played with in the film ''{{Madagascar}}'', the main characters are animals in a New York City zoo. Fair enough - but in the background are generic jungle noises. The cast go to bed... and someone yells to [[SorryILeftTheBGMOn turn off the ambiance]]. When that happens, a generic New York City background noise replaces it, complete with sirens. Alex the lion then yawns and relaxes and goes to sleep. Surprisingly, this is TruthInTelevision, since many zoos do have random jungle white noise played throughout the park to make the guests (and animals) feel more immersed.

* Parodied in the song "Tarzan and Jane" by the Danish band Toy-Box, which opens with a chorus of "jungle" sounds, including various birds singing, large cats growling, monkeys calling, ''sheep bleating'', and elephants trumpeting.
* The newer StarTrek series, commencing with TheNextGeneration, often had American Robins singing gaily in the background on various alien planets. So ''that's'' where they migrate in the winter...
* Similarly, CBS used to pipe in birdsong as "ambient sound" on their golf broadcasts. They stopped after an infamous instance where birdwatchers called them on the fact that the birds in a particular broadcast were not native to the location of the tournament.
* TheyMightBeGiants' spoken-word piece "Turtle Songs of North America" is all about this sort of thing. It's hilariously bizarre.

* The {{Veggietales}} episode "Josh and the Big Wall" contains birdsong and chirping crickets ''in the middle of the desert.'' {{Lampshaded}} in the commentary.

* The History channel aired a program about a black African mummy found in the Sahara, in which footage of a contemporary African cattle-herding village was used to simulate what the dead boy's community might have been like. Unfortunately, a rooster is heard crowing in the background, and while the mummified boy's culture had acquired goats and cattle from the Middle East, chickens (an Asian species) wouldn't make it to Africa for another few thousand years.

'''An Eagle's Cry MUST be Awesome!'''
* The default noise made by any bird of prey, especially the Bald Eagle, is in actuality [[http://www.naturesongs.com/rtha1.wav the cry of a Red-tailed Hawk]], a long, drawn out, and majestic-sounding call. This is ''so damn pervasive'' that it shows up in places where the producers really ought to know better. The station [=IDs=] for AnimalPlanet, for example. It's really easier to list the aversions and weirdest examples:
** Mostly averted in Disney's ''BrotherBear'', where Sitka sounds like an actual eagle - except for the grand crescendo at the end, where he once again became a hawk in disguise.
** One of the most confusing instances of this was an episode of ''AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' (of all things) where the baby Bald Eagles made genuine eagle calls but their parents sounded like hawks. Oi.
** One example that particularly disturbed this troper took place in the ''SuzumiyaHaruhi'' episode "Remote Island Syndrome Part 1", in which there was a ''gull'' with the call of a red-tailed hawk. Yes, a gull. Yeah, they can scream but seriously people.
*** Give the writers enough credit, and you could interpret this as a rather funny joke, given the circumstances of the series. Of course, I don't know if they deserve that much credit.
*** Considering that in the books ordinary pigeons can spontaneously turn into white doves for the sake of an amateur movie scene, a gull changing its cry to something more dramatic is perfectly believable.
*** Also, ThisTroper could've sworn she remembers [[DeadpanSnarker Kyon]] lampshade it, in a facial expression if not a verbal comment.
** And in ''{{Binchou-tan}}'' this cry is uttered by a ''duck''. Of course, it is also ''delivering mail'' at the time, so its cry is perhaps the least odd thing about it.
** Justified in ''TheRescuers Down Under'': Marahute is a fictional species (who seems to have been born fully fledged out of the RuleOfCool) and is voiced by a ''human'' (the extremely versatile Frank Welker).
** And in ''{{K-ON}}'' the cry is yet again used for a seagull during the obligatory {{beach episode}}, maybe as a {{shout out}} the aforementioned ''SuzumiyaHaruhi'' episode, which is produced by the same studio.
* For the record, a Bald Eagle [[http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bald_Eagle/sounds actually sounds like this.]]
** Just to bring things full circle, one troper has actually seen a few instances where this is used for the cry of a Red-Tailed Hawk. D'oh!
* A very strange example, as it swaps out an awesome-sounding call for a rather cuter one: in ''TheLegendOfZelda: Twilight Princess'', [[OurWereWolvesAreDifferent Wolf Link]] gives ''coyote'' howls instead of wolf howls.
** Probably because a coyote's howl sounds more musical for the [[OcarinaPlaylist howling melody sections]]. (On that note, the howled melodies actually ''are'' the songs from ''Ocarina of Time''. [[ContinuitySnarl Make of that what you will]].))

* So, how about the recent "Green Sense" commercial where the [[CuteButCacophonic Starling's call]] is overdubbed with the far cuter, far less cacophonic Robin's song?
** Though this is played with in ''[[TheLordOfTheRings FellowshipOfTheRing]]'' where, judging by their extremely cacophonic cries, Saruman's scary flock of avian spies are evidently Starlings (yes, they've invaded New Zealand too.)
*** They're supposed to be black crows, though.
* Big cats, not matter how adorable they are as cubs, no matter how tame they are, no matter how friendly they are with your protagonist, ''CAN NOT PURR''. This troper can't think of any specific examples, even though it drives her crazy every time she hears it.
** What, ThatTroper thinks that [[http://www.lionresearch.org/faq.html lions aren't big cats]]?
** Actually, big cats do purr, but they use a different mechanism than small cats - the same one they use for growling. Thusly, they can only purr while breathing outward, whereas small cats can purr whether they're inhaling or exhaling. Big cats also purr less often than their little cousins, and it's usually mistaken for a growl, anyway.
** As shown on one segment of ''The Tonight Show'', cheetahs can purr.
** [[{{Calvin And Hobbes}} It's growling friendly-like]].
** This Troper's local bird sanctuary has an adolescent cheetah (yeah, I don't know why either) and in order to prove he was happy in very un-Savannah like Kent his handler held their microphone near to him - lo and behold, very deep but unmistakeable purring.
* Though the idea that giraffes cannot make any sound at all seems to have been discredited, they are still very silent creatures. This is apparently disliked by filmmakers, who makes them sound like... ''rhinos'' (one example: ''{{Gladiator}}'' - the giraffes make the same sound as the baby ''Stegosaurus'' in ''JurassicPark : TheLostWorld'', which in turn sounds just like the audio sample in Encarta's entry on the Black Rhinoceros)

'''Everything Roars'''
* Very evident in the DCAU:
** Poison Ivy seems to have an army of impossibly vocal plants. If they've got a flytrap-like mouth, they'll roar or scream. If they've got [[CombatTentacles slithery vines]], they'll hiss.
** Both {{Batman}} and {{Superman}} fought a robot [[TyrannosaurusRex Stock Large Theropod]] (tm) on two different occasions. Both 'bots helpfully roared. (And besides that, they acted like real animals with none of the handicaps robotic animals tend to have in RealLife. [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Ridiculously Animal Robots]]?)
** Can't forget the otherwise eerie "BatmanBeyond" episode where an animate '''carpet''' rears up and roars.
* The roaring shark comes from good old "{{Jaws}}: The Revenge".
* A shark who roars like a Mountain Lion is just icing on the WTF Cake that is the animated feature, ''TheMagicVoyage''.
** There's a roaring shark in ''SharkAttack3Megalodon'' too. And I seem to recall a roaring giant squid in the adaptation of Peter Benchley's ''The Beast'' too.
*** The squid actually made a distorted shriek/screech, like a giant mechanical eagle (or red-tailed hawk). Going back a little further, Brucette in "Jaws III" also growled whenever she opened her mouth (though it was a very deep watery sound that you might miss most of the time), and a soft echoing roar is heard when Bruce's decapitated body sinks into the abyss at the end of "Jaws" (though that's merely symbolic).
* Metal Gear Rex and Ray roared like {{Jurassic Park}} T-Rexes in {{Metal Gear Solid}} series. The {{Novelization}} of the first game [[LampshadeHanging put a cover on the lightbulb]] of how silly it is (and Snake attributed the Rex roar to Otacon being an {{Otaku}}).
** The Shagohod even gets into the act in Snake Eater, making a lot of noises that simply cannot be explained by metal parts moving around.
*** And then there are the Gekkos, which run around making cow noises in ''Guns of the Patriots''.
* In {{City Of Heroes}}, if you're a Controller and happen to have Plant Control in your power set, congratulations! You're the proud owner of roaring man eating plants and vines.
* The {{Bloody Roar}} series is guilty as charged with most of the characters' [[{{Animorphism}} animal forms]], though the most glaring example would be Yugo, the roaring '''wolf'''.
* {{Jurassic Park}} featured a herd of Brachiosaurus making some sort of honking noise. Just one problem, Brachiosaurus is thought to be a dinosaur that made relatively few vocal sounds.

* And let us not forget the ''MST3K'' classic, "[[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Werewolf]]", which takes place in Flagstaff, Arizona. It has every variation of this trope: Wolf-people who never shut up, growling and howling at everything. Red-tailed Hawks crying at ''night''. A crappy Werewolf puppet who ''makes the calls of a hawk and a bat'' ([=WTF=] seems sadly inefficiant here). And a soundtrack that uses every one of these animal calls as its {{Scare Chord}}s.

* Oddly enough, {{Tarzan}} of the Apes uses the lion roaring as it attacks, but seems to be aware that this can easily be a tactical mistake. The book claims that most animals are frozen in fear by the sound of the lion's roar, and only Tarzan himself, being human, is smart enough that the roar alerts him and enocourages him to fight back. Of course, Edgar Rice Burroughs wasn't one to let the actual facts about lions get in the way of the story--the bigger question here is, [[MisplacedWildlife what was a plains-dwelling animal like a lion doing in the middle of the jungle?]]
* Possibly justified with RoboCop's ED-209: the (presumably prerecorded) lion's roar probably works as a pretty decent criminal deterrent (no reason why the Robocop III version should make puppy sounds though)

* Averted in a way with Warhammer 40K's Tyranids. An Imperial Guard soldier noted the worst part of seeing an advancing Tyranid army was the total lack of vocal sound. No battle cries, wounded soldiers or shouted orders, just the tramp of clawed feet and rustling of chitin.
** Except when another author writes them and they roar or hiss or go "skreee!". Even Lictors, famed for being extremely stealthy tend to let loose an ear-shattering "skreee!" on occasion.
* Not sure if it counts, but coming within a decent proximity of any of the tornadoes in the movie Twister, provokes the odd animalistic roar in with the dramatic sounds of wind. As if you weren't already fairly certain that this was one kitty not to be petted.

* [[GaoGaiGar Galeon]] roars at every opportunity, just because it's dramatic. (Wouldn't you if you were a giant robot lion?) ''Sometimes'' it's justified, as the roar is being used to negate barriers.
* BeastWars spiders Tarantulas and Black Arrachnia and [[StockDinosaurs velociraptor]] Dinobot speak in near constant hiss, and Tigatron and Airrazor have rather vocal beast modes. Megatron, of course, speaks in constant [[LargeHam ham]], no matter which mode he's in.

!![[AC:Aversions/Parodies:]]

* Boomerang ran a spoof where a director filmed Yogi The Bear yawning, and played it over with the roar of Bowser.
* ''Timeline'' by MichaelCrichton has our protagonists transported to a forest in a medieval setting, they are all shocked as to how quiet the forest really is. In the film adaptation everything imaginable in the forest makes a loud noise.
* Inversion: Contrast to popular belief, fish actually make a lot of sound with a surprising variety. However, human ear isn't very trained to hear these.

* Due to the sheer over-the-top amount of sounds, likely parodied in [[IndianaJones The Temple Of Doom]]. It's almost like they planned for a lengthy sojourn in the forest and gathered all the sounds, but left with one scene simply crammed them all in.

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* [[TropeJustTrope Rats, just rats.]] Whenever they're seen they'll be making obvious squeaking noises. In reality these are usually only made around other rats to signal anything from discomfort to submission. Mice get this treatment too, though being even more silent.