The Netflix Boot-Up Sound Was Almost A Goat

The Netflix boot-up sound is very well known, but it was almost completely different.

Netflix VP of product, Todd Yellin, said on the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast (via THR) that the company also considered other, very different sounds. These included underwater bubbles and even a goat's bleating sound.

All of these sounds--including the "Ta Dum" sound that ultimately was chosen--were composed by sound designer Lon Bender, who won the Best Effects Sound Editing Oscar for Bravehart. The "Ta Dum" sound, as it's known internally at Netflix, was initially introduced in 2015.

"I liked the sound of the goat," Yellin said. "It was funny, quirky, and our version of [MGM's] Leo the Lion."

Netflix ultimately decided on Ta Dum because, in polling, people associated it with things like "dramatic," "beginning," and "movie." Bender said he made the sound by hitting his wedding ring on his nightstand, followed by a backward-playing guitar sound called "The Blossom."

In other news, Netflix recently spoke about how it wants to make "broad audience" movies like Harry Potter and Star Wars. "A lot of family live action, fantasy, spectacle movies that we think are big and can play great," Netflix movie boss Tendo Nagenda said.