Roar Like A Shark

There’s a famous scene, in 1987’s Jaws The Revenge (aka Jaws IV, aka a Jaws movie with a budget so low they couldn’t even afford a colon in the title), where the infamous shark… roars.

Roars?

Roars.

The shark roars.

The fish jumps out of the water, looks at the boat, and roars.

And not to belabor the point, but—the shark roars.

You can rush a job.

You can do a project on a shoestring budget.

But, if all that matters is getting it done, if nobody cares, then you’ll be lucky if any moment, let alone one with a roaring shark, makes your executed idea remotely memorable.

If you’re like me, you’re probably still wondering how the roar came to be too.

And thinking of other roughshod projects you’ve been part of.

Here’s what is rumored to have happened.

Allegedly, the sound design guy refused to create a sound for the roaring shark.

He wasn’t going to spend time (or budget) on coming up with a sound that has no business existing in the first place.

So, in a tongue-in-cheek response to the studio’s request, he chose a pre-recorded sound to use for the mighty shark’s roar.

You can match the sound precisely to an old Tom and Jerry cartoon episode, “The Milky Waif.”

The one time a shark roared, the one time Jaws roared, it was actually Tom, the mouse.

Poetry.

h/t Frazer Rice

Enjoy: