Big Whistle Zing Out in The Drillimation Series

"Oh yes! Whee-yah!!!"

- Susumu Hori, when unleashing spell card attacks

Big Whistle Zing Out is a sound effect found within the Drillimation anime and games. Originally created by Hanna-Barbara in 1958, it is a simple whistle designed to give a comedic effect when an object moves at rapid speed. There are many variations, but during the making of the anime, different variations were used. Although it was in the public domain, it was updated as time flew by. The sound effect is heard in mostly Hanna-Barbera cartoons from the 1960s to the 1980s, some animated and non-animated films, some games in the Super Mario series, and others.

The sound effect drew a strongly negative reception from Drillimation fans, as fans called it "annoying" with some having anxiety attacks whenever it is executed. Similar cases of this included Miyuki's scream in installments 3 - 5 of the Driller Engine Grand Prix series, and made up variations of the sound effect within the game's files. Since the Driller Engine Ultimate 2 era, Drillimation removed the sound effect and its variations entirely, as it drew criticism from fans across the globe and even employees at Drillimation. According to an interview with Health magazine, Susumu Takajima would experience an anxiety attack when the sound effect would be executed.

The direct tones have been said by some characters when throwing special attacks or even unleashing spell cards, and even being made fun of by Drillimation staff and employees. Despite being one of Hanna-Barbera's most prolific sound effects, it is still being used as of today, with it appearing very rarely in the newer games and anime.

In the anime
NOTE: This sound is not heard in Angry German Kid and Star Trigon, as many of the cartoon style H-B sounds are absent to preserve the pace for the action cartoons and anime in North America at the time.

Lucky Star
The sound effect was first heard in a few episodes of the first and second seasons, and started to become used more often in the third season and beyond, mostly in a high pitch and a few times in the normal pitch.
 * Hungry 1: The Sisters' New Predetermined Destiny: Heard once when Hinata slips and falls.

Driller Engine 3 Era

 * HotShots Party 2000: Heard once in the intro sequence when Susumu is sent flying after the meteorite strikes the ground.

Driller Engine 4/5 Era

 * HotShots Party 3: Heard in some minigames, heard once during the Rally-X microgame in Igor's Greedy Square.

Driller Engine Ultimate Era

 * Mr. Driller X2: Humiliation: Heard in a high pitch upon triple jumping, heard in a higher-than-normal pitch when long jumping.

Behind the Scenes

 * Additionally, Drillimation began using some of Hanna-Barbera's sound effects in the anime after they collaborated with Hanna-Barbera when they were producing the English dub of Angry German Kid anime.