A closer look
Squishy walking noises made by the lovable alien in Steven Spielberg's masterpiece E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial were created by a Foley artist repeatedly mashing her hands into a bowl of jelly, wet mud, and packaged raw beef, resulting in an incredibly unappetizing recording session. To give the gentle extraterrestrial his signature waddling sound, sound designer Joan Woodward quite literally went to the grocery store, bought a pile of cheap meat and gelatin, and spent hours slapping it around in front of a high-quality studio microphone. Millions of children shed genuine tears for this beautiful, emotionally resonant space creature, completely oblivious to the fact that his magical footsteps were acoustically identical to someone ruining a summer barbecue. This auditory illusion perfectly highlights the deceptive magic of cinema, where the most heartwarming intergalactic friendship of the eighties is sonically underpinned by the revolting squelch of warm ground chuck and cheap strawberry Jell-O
