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14[[quoteright:300:[[ComicStrip/MarkTrail https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kookaburra.png]]]]
15[[caption-width-right:300:[[https://stevografix.com.au/birds/laughing-kookaburra.html Merry, merry king of the sound catalogue is he.]]]]
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17->''"In at least one scene in any movie about the "jungle" -- no matter where in the world -- the soundtrack must feature the demented call ("who-who-who-ah-ah-ah-ah-HA-HA") of an Australian kookaburra."''
18-->-- [[Creator/RogerEbert Ebert]]'s Bigger Little Movie Glossary
19
20One of the StockSoundEffects that pop up whenever films, cartoons or TV series depict a jungle environment with a NoisyNature is the cackling laugh of the kookaburra, which sounds something like: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXA0-YAoo9Q "OOOOOO-HOOO-OOO-HOO-HOO-AHAHAHAHA"]] and is often assumed to be a monkey by people unfamiliar with the bird. It doesn't help much that we typically hear the sound without actually seeing the animal making it, thus adding to the confusion. The laugh sounds great and really puts in the right mood for a mysterious adventure set in an impenetrable jungle.
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22The thing, though, is that this bird is actually only native to [[UsefulNotes/AustralianWildlife northern Australia and New Guinea]] and the islands between the two, yet in popular culture you can hear him in every tropical forest from Latin America over Africa to Asia. Still, the kookaburra laugh has become so prominent for scenes taking place in a jungle that creators will still add it to the soundtrack, because [[TheCoconutEffect somehow it just doesn't sound the same without it.]]
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24It should be noted that Australia does have areas of tropical jungle in the northeast (though presumably you don't always hear a kookaburra the moment you enter them). Incidentally, the kookaburra's habitat is not limited to jungles either.
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26Can also be PlayedForLaughs, by depicting a regular forest or somebody's backyard at night.
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28Subtrope of MisplacedWildlife (unless a story is set in Australia) and MusicAndSoundEffects. Compare SpookyAnimalSounds, for another trope where usually unseen animals are used to provide ambience-reinforcing noises.
29----
30!!Examples
31[[foldercontrol]]
32
33[[folder:Comic Strips]]
34* [[https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/comic-strip-art/ed-dodd-and-tom-hill-mark-trail-sunday-comic-strip-original-art-dated-12-7-69-field-enterprises-inc-/a/121229-11590.s This]] ''ComicStrip/MarkTrail'' strip lampshades the kookaburra's cry in the jungle.
35[[/folder]]
36
37[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
38* Oddly averted in, of all places, ''WesternAnimation/FernGullyTheLastRainforest''. The movie takes place in an Australian rainforest, where one would expect to find kookaburras, yet there are none to be heard.
39* A kookaburra laugh is heard in the opening scene of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Jungle Book|1967}}'', which takes place in the jungles of India.
40[[/folder]]
41
42[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
43* The sound of a kookaburra can be distinctly heard in the Peace Corps {{flashback}} of ''{{Film/Airplane}}!'' when Elaine and Ted meet the isolated jungle tribe, the Molombo.
44* In ''Film/{{Aquaman|2018}}'', a kookaburra sound is heard in the hidden jungles ''at the Earth's core''.
45* In ''Film/BlackNarcissus'', the kookaburra can be heard in the bamboo forests of Himalayan foothills.
46* In ''Film/CapeFear'' (1962), a kookaburra sound appears during the third act of the film, along the Cape Fear River in North Carolina, USA. Given that a kookaburra sound is usually assumed to be a monkey, note that there are neither kookaburras nor monkeys native to the American South.
47* In Jess Franco’s ''Film/CountDracula1970'', a kookaburra can be heard in the Borgo Pass, aka the Tihuta Pass of Romania.
48* The distinctive cry can be heard throughout ''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon'' which is set in the heart of the Brazilian Jungle.
49* ''[[Film/FrancisTheTakkingMule Francis]]'' (1950) is set in Burma. Not only are there sound effects of kookaburras, in one jungle scene a sulfur crested cockatoo is shown in the branches.
50* Exaggerated in ''Film/{{Freaked}}''. We not only get the obligatory kookaburra call, but it's also followed up by WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker's signature laugh.
51* Bethany is in South America at the beginning of ''Film/JumanjiTheNextLevel'', and the distinct laugh is heard next to a waterfall.
52* When Spencer first arrives in the jungle in ''Film/JumanjiWelcomeToTheJungle'', the distinctive cries of kookaburras can be distinctly heard. The fictional land of Jumanji features wildlife from all over the globe, so kookaburras might actually be native.
53* In ''Film/TheLeechWoman'', when the characters travel to the African jungle, a kookaburra is heard yet again.
54* ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction''. One scene takes place in the African jungle and yes, the kookaburra cackles again.
55* One sonorized version of ''Film/TheLostWorld'' has the sound of the kookaburra used in the establishing shot of the jungles that the explorers are making their way through to the [[LostWorld plateau]].
56* ''Film/TheLostWorldJurassicPark'': Kookaburras can be heard on the tropical Isla Sorna, a fictional island that is supposed to be west of UsefulNotes/CostaRica.
57* In ''Film/TheNakedGun'', Frank Drebin hears a Kookaburra shouting when he [[https://youtu.be/LIoj0Cc9uEQ?t=26 gets lost in the hills of Los Angeles]].
58* In ''Film/ObjectiveBurma'' (1945), the kookaburra is heard early in the movie, in Burma (which is not Australia).
59* ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' has a kookaburra laughing in the ActionPrologue when Indy is looking for treasure in the Amazon.
60* In ''Film/RevengeOfTheCreature'' the kookaburra is heard during the opening scenes, in the Amazon river basin of South America. Drawn attention to when the film appeared on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'': "Hey, it's the 'ooh-ooh-ooh-oh-oh-ah-ah-ah-ah' creature."
61* Kookaburra sounds can be heard in ''Film/RomancingTheStone'' in the segments that are set in the Colombian jungle.
62* ''Film/SpyHard'' parodied this. As a spy sneaks into a secret base in a Caribbean jungle, a bunch of jungle sounds can be heard, including the kookaburra call. Then the camera moves to the side a little, where we see that a guard is making all these sounds, while reading from a book: ''The Cries of Common Jungle Animals''.
63* In ''Film/SwissFamilyRobinson'', a kookaburra can be heard on the deserted tropical island. In the original novel, the family is shipwrecked in the East Indies (which definitely isn’t kookaburra territory), but at least they were on their way to Australia.
64* ''Franchise/{{Tarzan}}''. Definitely the TropeCodifier, as this franchise, set in the African jungle, used the kookaburra sound effect first in the 1930s.
65* ''Film/TheTreasureOfTheSierraMadre''. When the protagonists enter the Mexican forest a kookaburra can be heard in the background, despite not living there at all.
66* In ''Film/WestOfZanzibar'' (1954), kookaburras can be heard while the poachers are hunting for elephants. Zanzibar is in Tanzania, in eastern Africa, which you will note is not Australia.
67* In ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', a kookaburra can briefly be heard in the forest. Could be explained away by noting that Oz is a DreamLand.
68[[/folder]]
69
70[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
71* The old pirate serial ''Series/TheBuccaneers'' repeatedly uses kookaburra sound effects. It's set mostly in the Bahamas.
72* One episode of ''Series/McHalesNavy'' has [=McHale=] and his crew trying to capture a toucan bird who was keeping the whole base awake at night by screaming like a Kookaburra. They never manage to capture or kill it, but they did manage to drive it over from their island to right outside Captain Binghamton's office window.
73* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': The episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S3E12TheJungle The Jungle]]" takes place in the African jungle, yet the kookaburra sound pops up.
74[[/folder]]
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76[[folder:Music]]
77* Music/KateBush: In [[Music/TheRedShoesAlbum "Big Stripey Lie"]], Bush briefly mimics the call of a kookaburra after the lines "Oh my God it's a jungle in here; you've got wild animals loose in here."
78* "Jungle Fever" by Music/DickDale (available as a bonus track on ''Music/SurfersChoice'') evokes this trope, as the band members imitate the sound of a kookaburra.
79* "Tarzan" by Music/JohnnyGuitarWatson kicks off with a jungle atmosphere, including kookaburra sounds.
80* "Jungle Love" by Music/TheTime starts with a kookaburra sound over the song.
81[[/folder]]
82
83[[folder:Video Games]]
84* In the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' level JungleJapes, the kookaburra ambience is audible with its soundtrack.
85* The ambient noise used for the Chilean jungle in the ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'' mission "A Vintage Year".
86* Suddenly prominent in Faron Woods in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'', of all things. They were not heard in the same places in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild''.
87* The ambient noise used throughout ''VideoGame/MyExoticFarm'' includes a kookaburra.
88* ''VideoGame/{{Syberia}}'' has this in the aviary at Barrockstadt.
89* The unreleased ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' clone ''VideoGame/TattooAssassins'' features a level taking place in a jungle, which is infamous for having a loud kookaburra sample as part of its ambience. Whether it be due to the incompleteness of the game or the result of improper sound emulation[[note]]The only available builds of the game are [=ROMs=] compatible with UsefulNotes/{{MAME}}[[/note]], the sound gets played way more often than it probably should.
90[[/folder]]
91
92[[folder:Western Animation]]
93* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckAmuck'', WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck of all birds makes this classic jungle StockSoundEffect of a bird noise. Also counts as a SillyAnimalSound as Daffy is a duck.
94* ''WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}}'': One short had Goofy going tiger hunting in the Indian jungle and the first shots of the jungles start off with all kinds of jungle sounds, including the kookaburra.
95* The moonbird that the little boys find in ''WesternAnimation/{{Moonbird}}'' makes a cry like a kookaburra.
96* A rare instance of the sound being used appropriately, given the location, a kookaburra can be heard at the beginning of the opening theme to ''WesternAnimation/TazMania''.
97[[/folder]]
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