Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy


Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a 2004 American satirical comedy film directed by Adam McKay in his directorial debut, produced by Judd Apatow, starring Will Ferrell and Christina Applegate and written by McKay and Ferrell. The first installment in the Anchorman series, the film is a tongue-in-cheek take on the culture of the 1970s, particularly the new Action News format. It portrays a San Diego television station where news anchor Ron Burgundy clashes with his new co-anchor Veronica Corningstone.
The film made $28.4 million in its opening weekend, and $90.6 million worldwide in its theatrical run. It was met with lukewarm reviews from critics upon release but has undergone a gradual critical reassessment since then as one of the greatest comedy films ever made. It was ranked at number 100 on Bravo's 100 funniest movies, number 6 on Time Outs top 100 comedy films of all time, number 113 on Empires 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, and number 49 on Rolling Stones 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century.
Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, a companion film assembled from outtakes and abandoned subplots, was released straight-to-DVD on December 28, 2004. A sequel, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, was released on December 18, 2013, with Paramount Pictures replacing DreamWorks Pictures as the distributor.

Plot

In 1975, Ron Burgundy is the famous anchorman for a San Diego television station, KVWN Channel 4, working alongside his lifelong friends on the news team: lead field reporter Brian Fantana, sportscaster Champ Kind, and meteorologist Brick Tamland.
Station director Ed Harken informs the team that they have retained their long-held status as the highest-rated news program in San Diego, leading them to throw a wild party, where Ron unsuccessfully attempts to pick up a beautiful blonde woman, Veronica Corningstone.
Ed later informs the team that they have been forced to hire Veronica. After a series of unsuccessful attempts by the team to seduce her, she finally agrees to a "professional tour" of the city with Ron, culminating in a sexual relationship. Despite agreeing to keep the relationship discreet, Ron announces it on air.
After a dispute with a motorcyclist ends in Ron's beloved dog Baxter being punted off the San Diego–Coronado Bridge, Ron is late to work. Veronica fills in for him on-air, receiving higher ratings than Ron usually receives, and the couple break up when he bemoans her success. Veronica is promoted co-anchor, to the disgust of the team. The co-anchors become fierce rivals off-air while maintaining a phony facade of cordiality on-air.
Depressed, the team decide to buy new suits, but Brick, leading the way, gets them lost in a shady part of town. Confronted by main competitor Wes Mantooth and his news team, Ron challenges them to a fight. When several other news teams converge onsite, a full-on melee battle ensues, only broken up by police sirens that cause them to flee. Realizing that having a female co-anchor is straining their reputation, Ron gets into another heated argument with Veronica, and they get into a physical fight after she insults his hair.
After one of Veronica's co-workers informs her that Ron will read whatever is written on the teleprompter, she sneaks into the station and changes the text in revenge. The next day, he concludes the broadcast with "Go fuck yourself, San Diego!" instead of his signature closing line, "You stay classy, San Diego!" triggering an angry mob outside the studio and forcing Ed to fire him.
Realizing she went too far, Veronica confesses to him that she was responsible, making him angry. Unemployed, friendless, and heavily antagonized by the public, Ron grows depressed while Veronica enjoys her new-found fame, with Brian, Champ, and Brick begrudgingly working with her. Ed has warned against them talking to Ron, under threat that they'd be fired as well.
Three months later, when a panda is about to give birth, every news team in San Diego rushes to the zoo to cover the story. In an attempt to sabotage her, a rival news anchor pushes Veronica into a Kodiak bear enclosure. When Ed is unable to locate her, he recruits and rehires Ron.
Once at the zoo, Ron, with his morale restored, jumps into the bear pen to save Veronica as the public watches. The rest of the news team then jump in to save them. Just as a bear is about to attack, Ron's dog Baxter, who miraculously survived his fall, intervenes and encourages the bear to spare them. As the group climbs out of the pit, Wes appears and holds the ladder over the bear pit, threatening to drop Ron back in, saying that deep down, he has always hated him, but then admits he does respect him before pulling him to safety.
After Ron and Veronica reconcile, it is shown that, in the years to come, Brian becomes the host of a Fox reality show named Intercourse Island, Brick is married with 11 children and is a top political adviser to George W. Bush, Champ is a commentator for the NFL before getting fired after being accused by Terry Bradshaw of sexual harassment, and Ron and Veronica are co-anchors for the CNN-esque World News Center.

Cast

  • Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy – Anchorman for a small news station in San Diego called KVWN Channel 4.
  • Christina Applegate as Veronica Corningstone – Intelligent news anchor beside Ron Burgundy for KVWN Channel 4.
  • Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana – Friend, field reporter, and coworker of Ron Burgundy. Known for being a ladies' man.
  • Steve Carell as Brick Tamland – Weatherman at KVWN Channel 4. Known for being mentally challenged and part of Ron Burgundy's crew.
  • David Koechner as Champ Kind – Sportscaster at KVWN Channel 4. Comes across as masculine, sexist, and enthusiastic.
  • Chris Parnell as Garth Holliday
  • Kathryn Hahn as Helen
  • Fred Armisen as Tino
  • Fred Willard as Ed Harken
  • Vince Vaughn as Wes Mantooth
  • Jerry Minor as Tino's Bassist
  • Laura Kightlinger as Donna
  • Danny Trejo as a Bartender
  • Jack Black as a Motorcyclist
  • Judd Apatow as a News Station Employee
  • Paul F. Tompkins as a Cat Fashion Show Host
  • Jay Johnston as a Member of the Eyewitness News Team
  • Adam McKay as a Janitor
  • Tim Robbins as the Public News Anchor
  • Luke Wilson as Frank Vitchard
  • Ben Stiller as Arturo Mendez
  • Missi Pyle as a Zoo Keeper
  • Seth Rogen as Scotty
  • Bill Kurtis as The Narrator

    Casting

Will Ferrell and Adam McKay wanted Ed Harris to play Ed Harken, which was eventually given to Fred Willard. Dan Aykroyd was considered for the role of Garth Holiday. Alec Baldwin was considered for the role of Frank Vitchard. James Spader was considered for the role of Brick Tamland. Bob Odenkirk, Ben Stiller and Ron Livingston were all considered for the role of Brian Fantana. John C. Reilly was originally considered for the role of Champ Kind. Amy Adams, Leslie Mann, and Maggie Gyllenhaal auditioned for the role of Veronica Corningstone.

Production

While still at Saturday Night Live, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay began working on a script titled August Blowout, which Ferrell would later describe as "Glengarry Glen Ross meets a car dealership". Although the script was popular around Hollywood, the resulting movie never got made. One of the readers was Paul Thomas Anderson who offered to "shepherd" a script written by the pair. McKay has stated that the idea for the film that would become Anchorman came about after "Will saw an interview with a 70s anchorman, talking about how sexist they were. And it was that tone of voice he loved."
An early version of the script was a parody of the disaster film Alive with a group of news people, after Ron Burgundy crashes their plane, stranded in the wilderness trying to make their way back to civilization. A subplot would involve the characters trying to escape from a group of ninjastar wielding orangutans. Adam McKay stated that a version of the script originally included "a musical number with sharks". Anderson, who at the time was scheduled to produce the film was taken aback by the script's bizarre nature, so much so that afterwards he left production, although in retrospect he mentioned lightheartedly, "I blew that ."
Even though Anchorman is set in San Diego, the real San Diego is almost exclusively seen in brief aerial shots which visibly include numerous buildings in downtown San Diego which had not yet been built or opened during the 1970s. According to the official production notes and "making of" documentary, Anchorman was mainly filmed in Los Angeles, Glendale, and Long Beach on sets which were made to look like San Diego during the 1970s. The film does not explicitly state the year in which it takes place, but the characters knowing the lyrics to "Afternoon Delight", as well as a reference to Gene Tenace playing for the San Diego Padres, places the film in 1977 or shortly thereafter.
The film initially centered around the reporters tracking down a clumsy yet elusive group of hippie bank robbers known as "The Alarm Clock". This version of the film was met with poor test audience results, which Ferrell attributed to uncomfortable lampooning of the Patty Hearst kidnapping, and a significant portion of the film was re-written and re-shot to replace the Alarm Clock with the panda story that appeared in the final version. The original Alarm Clock version was re-edited, along with alternate takes of existing scenes and new narration, to form a separate direct-to-video film entitled Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie. It was released straight to DVD on December 28, 2004.
The physical appearance of the Ron Burgundy character may have been modeled after real-life news anchorman Harold Greene, who worked at KCST-TV and KGTV in San Diego during the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Prior to the release of the 2013 sequel to Anchorman retired news anchor Mort Crim, best known for his work at KYW-TV in Philadelphia and WDIV in Detroit, claimed that he was chosen by Ferrell as the inspiration for Ron Burgundy.
Among Crim's colleagues during his time in Philadelphia was Jessica Savitch, who would later go on to a prominent role at NBC News. Savitch served as a model for the character of Veronica Corningstone, played by Christina Applegate.
Although he does not appear in the final film, John C. Reilly attended an early read-through and impressed Ferrell so much that a part in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby was developed for him; he would later appear in the 2013 sequel.
Ferrell and McKay recorded an audio commentary for the film's home release which consists of random, mostly facetious discussions of no relevance to the film or its production.