Toy Story 3’s vocal delusion is going viral as fans debate whether or not the character is cursing

An audio clip from the hit children’s movie Toy Story 3 left netizens in a panic after a TikTok user claimed they could hear the movie’s Ken doll using a very rude expletive – while others insisted they hear nothing but an innocent exclamation.

The seemingly innocent footage from the 2010 cartoon shows a moment between Barbie and Ken, during which the latter is heard saying either “Oh, Barbie” or “Oh f**k”.

The latest auditory illusion was first shared on TikTok on Saturday by user Kitty Feeley who asked her followers: “Do you hear ‘Oh Barbie’ or ‘Oh f***’.”

She added, “I literally hear both of them… #toystory3 #yannyorlaurel”

The snippet, which has since garnered nearly 30 million views, shows the moment in the movie where Barbie rips off Ken’s bound clothes with the latter screaming: “Oh! [mystery word]That was old.”

One fan commented on Twitter: ‘Am I gassed? It’s clearly an “oh f**k”. ‘

Another added: “At first it was obviously ‘Hey Barbie’ but all I hear now is ‘Oh f**k’.”

I can’t help but hear, “Oh, f**k,” one person tweeted. I can’t hear anything that sounds like, “Oh, Barbie.”

Another added: “Bro wtf I did it in my brain… when I choose to hear ‘oh f**k’ I do when I choose to hear ‘oh Barbie’ I hear that too”.

One TikTok user agreed as they wrote: “I heard Oh Barbie for the first time and now I can’t hear her anymore.”

Another added: “There’s no way he’d say ‘Hey Barbie’,” while one TikToker user said: “I’ve never heard ‘Hey Barbie’.”

Some listeners seemed to spot a cause for confusion as one wrote: “On my phone speaker it was ‘oh f**k’ or maybe ‘oh fark’ but with headphones on obviously Barbie.”

Another commented, “I can hear both, one caveat, I can’t hear ‘oh and a**k’ on the earphones, I can only hear them in speech. No minf**kery works on the earphones.”

Other users have compared it to the 2018 Yanny or Laurel discussion, and the equally viral dress is the blue/black or yellow/gold dress of 2015.

Professor Valerie Hazan, an expert in speech, hearing and voice sciences from University College London, told The Huffington Post in 2019 that the reason these audio tricks work is because our brains can ‘catch’ a second perceived sound pattern.

“The reason a person sees their perception shifting without explanation may also mean that our ears and brain have caught on to a different sound pattern than it was previously holding,” she explained.

The latest viral clip comes years after an audio clip of a male streamer saying either “Yanny” or Laurel left everyone around the world scratching their heads.

Reddit user Roland Camry shared the video, which went viral as people struggled to understand how some people hear “yanny” while others hear “yanny” some people even hear “yanny” first and then “laurel” or vice versa. Which is even more mind boggling.

One person commented on Rowland’s post, “I hear Laurel and everyone are liars,” while another wrote, “Are you serious. It’s Yanni for me.

“How does that sound to you!? Is it like some kind of high-pitched voice?” she asked.

In response to a woman’s question if a laurel’s voice was high-pitched, someone commented, “No.

“Sounding a little deep actually, it sounds like a standard male audio text-to-speech.”

‘yes. That’s all I hear too, another guy agreed. “A deep text-to-speech announcer with a voice that says laurel.”

Meanwhile, another person was very confused because he had heard both of them.

I heard Yanni loud in the first half the first time I played this one, but I’ve heard laurels since then. amazing…’

I heard Yanni for about 10-15 minutes, then I asked someone else and he said Gar.

After listening to it for some time, I could sometimes hear a high pitch or a low pitched gar. Real f**kery black magic,” someone admitted his explanation.

Another user had a similar experience hearing both words as he admits: ‘At first I heard yanni and then I listened to laurel enough times to hear laurel.

Then there was a period when it seemed like someone was saying yanny and someone else was saying laurel at the same time. But now I can only hear the laurel. Black Magic and ** Kerry.

One person suggested playing with bass frequencies to see if it would change the word people heard and even gave instructions.

Turn the volume up and down to hear each version. And the user advised that it had something to do with the bass frequencies, which are not perceived as loud at low volume levels.

If you turn the volume down very low, there will be practically no bass and you will hear Yanni. Turn the volume up and play it on some speakers that have actual bass response—not your phone—and you’ll hear the laurel.

Obviously, this also depends on the individual’s physiology and what you expect to hear. I suppose they combined the high frequencies of yani with the low frequencies of laurel with some overlap.

They continued, “The two words are phonetically similar enough for this to work, however, your brain can’t handle both at once, so it picks one and that’s the version you hear.”