Marvel released a new sneak peak teaser for its upcoming and highly anticipated Fantastic Four film. And that¡¯s cool I guess, but why did they include a very overused sound effect of kids laughing? And why does it pop up not just once, but twice in the 15-second clip?
As announced last February, Marvel¡¯s upcoming MCU reboot of the Fantastic Four is set to hit theaters this July. The movie stars Last of Us actor Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and The Bear¡¯s Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm aka The Thing. Since that announcement last year, we¡¯ve not seen much else of Fantastic Four: First Steps. But that changed today with a small teaser that also contains a really annoying sound effect.
On February 3, Marvel teased a trailer because it¡¯s 2025 and that¡¯s just a normal thing we have to deal with now. In the short teaser we see some kids running and laughing as they try to cram themselves in front of an array of TVs in the display window of a 1960's store. The televisions are preparing to show a rocket launch involving Marvel¡¯s famous family. I hope nothing bad happens! We¡¯ll see more in the full trailer tomorrow.
But instead of enjoying this little teaser for the new Fantastic Four movie, I was distracted immediately by a sound effect I¡¯ve heard oh so many times before. You¡¯ve undoubtedly heard this sound effect, too. It¡¯s a group of kids laughing in a weird, somewhat unnatural way and it¡¯s popped up in games, movies, TV shows, commercials, trailers, and songs.
This sound effect is known as ¡°Small Group Kids Laug PE143601" and was found on The Premiere Edition Volume 1 sound effects library produced by Hollywood Edge in 1990. This sound effect, which was originally recorded in 1983 for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, has appeared in a very long list of movies, TV shows, and more since it was added to that sound effect library in the ¡®90s. And weirdly, it keeps getting used decades later. Here¡¯s a clip from the Netflix animated show Wonderoos that contains the laughing kids:
Apparently, this effect (like the Wilhelm Scream) has just become a standard option for sound engineers and designers in Hollywood. As someone who instantly recognizes this sound effect the moment it pops up in a movie or game, its continued use in 2025 is annoying.
And to bring this back to the Fantastic Four teaser, I¡¯m honestly shocked and perplexed that the marketing folks behind it decided to include the effect twice in such a short clip. I¡¯d bet money that in the full movie this sound effect won¡¯t be used twice in such a short timespan (it might not even appear at all) as it¡¯s really distracting and noticeable when it plays back to back like that.
Anyway, I guess I¡¯ll listen out for this annoying sound effect when Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives in theaters on July 25, 2025.
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