"He had a voice that could make a wolverine purr, and suits so fine they made Sinatra look like a hobo. In other words, Ron Burgundy was the balls."
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a 2004 comedy starring Will Ferrell.It is The Seventies, the age of strange haircuts, polyester, wide lapels, and swinging bachelors. Ron Burgundy is the top anchor of the #1 news program in San Diego, and respected throughout the city. He is somewhat demanding.One day, due to a lack of diversity, the nebbish who runs the station hires a new female co-anchor, Veronica Corningstone. Burgundy (like most males in the film) is sexist, and so it's near-hatred at first sight. It doesn't help that the gorgeous lady wants to be a serious newscaster, but is assigned stories about cat fashion shows.What evolves is a Slap-Slap-Kiss situation — Burgundy falls for Veronica, and she for him, and they try to make things work even while the news is still happening.Oh, and there is lots of 1970s-style decadence.A straight-to-DVD sequel was made with various outtakes, unused plot concepts, and clips from the final movie called Wake Up, Ron Burgundy. The plot concerns a radical team of bank robbers being investigated by the Action 4 team. They refer to themselves as "The Alarm Clock", seeking to "wake up" San Diego.*
Though to what end is unclear...even to them.
The companion movie was packaged with the original as a special gift.Eight years after its release, Will Ferrel showed up in character on Conan to play some jazz flute....oh, and also to announce they were finally making a sequel.
The following is based on actual events. Only the names, locations and events have been changed:
Ron: I don't know how to put this, but... I'm kind of a big deal. People know me. I'm very important. I own many leather-bound books, and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.
The meeting of the News Teams a la West Side Story is a treasure trove of this:
Spanish Language Anchor: Como estas, bitches! Spanish Language News is here. Tonight's top story: The sewers run red...with Burgundy's blood!
Topped only by:
Public News Anchor: HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, YOU INGRATES! Public news team is taking a break from its pledge drive to kick some ass. NO COMMERCIALS, NO MERCYYYYYYYYYYY!
Big Damn Heroes: Played with. Ron attempts this, utterly failing ("I immediately regret this decision!"), the rest of the news team does pretty well, but it's Baxter who saves the day.
Big "NO!": Ron, after the biker punts Baxter off the bridge. One of the deleted scenes on the DVD has this taken Up to Eleven.
After Ron gets fired Veronica lets two or three out as Ron is dragged away.
Bilingual Bonus: The restaurant the women go to is "Escupimos en su Alimento" (Spanish for "we spit in your food")
Bottled Cool: Sex Panther by Odeon, which is illegal in nine countries. 60% of the time, it works all of the time. It's made with bits of real panther, so you know it's good. It also smells like Bigfoot's dick and has a tendency to set off the fire alarm. And it's so strong that often the user has to be jet-hosed to expunge the stench.
Brick Joke: When we first see Baxter, Ron responds to some of his barking by telling him he doesn't understand Spanish and to say it in English. Later, when he and Veronica are in the throes of passion, she says something in Spanish—which leads Baxter to suddenly bark.
During the fight against the newscasters, one of the anchormen gets his arm chopped off, prompting him to say "I did not see that coming!" His other arm is ripped off by a bear later on in the film, which is met with a response of how ri-goddamn-diculous it is.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Brick is an extremely competent weatherman...but is completely out to lunch otherwise.
Cain and Abel: A deleted scene reveals that Ron himself and Wes Mantooth are half-brothers.
Wes Mantooth: I hate you Ron Burgundy! I hate you.
Veronica Corningstone: Because I am good at three things: Fighting, screwing, and reading the news. I've already done one of those today, so what's the other one gonna be? Huh?
Veronica: I'm good at three things: fighting, screwing, and reading the news. I've already done one of those today, so what's the other one gonna be? Huh?
Ed (hopefully): Uh...screwing?
Creator Cameo: Adam McKay as one of the guys who hoses the Sex Panther off of Brian.
Cue Card: This is a plot point, Ron Burgundy relies on teleprompters to do the news.
In Wake Up Ron Burgundy he's forced to deliver a message on TV by The Alarm Clock without cue cards or a teleprompter, and is reduced to blurting out pure word salad. He can't even remember his own name.
Deleted Scene: So many that they were able to make a whole other movie out of them.
Elephant in the Living Room: In Wake Up Ron Burgundy, Champ declares his love for Ron whilst the news team is in the car. Extreme awkwardness ensues as Ron and Brian concentrate very hard on ignoring him.
Epic Hail: Subverted, in that they were in the same building the whole time.
Champ Kind: I will smash your face into a car windshield, and then take your mother, Dorothy Mantooth, out for a nice seafood dinner and never call her again!
Wes Mantooth: Dorothy Mantooth is a saint! You understand me? Dorothy Mantooth is a saint!
Ron Burgundy: Hey, let's leave the mothers out of this.
Five-Temperament Ensemble: Ron Burgundy (leukine), Champ Kind (choleric), Veronica Corningstone (melancholic), Brick Tamland (phlegmatic), Brian Fantana (sanguine).
Freeze Frame Bonus: Adam Scott and Jon Hamm are listed as writers in the credits rolling over Ron and Veronica insulting each other.
Hilarious Outtakes: Even includes an outtake from Smokey and the Bandit II, which was one of the first films to include outtakes in its closing credits.
The Alarm Clock's "manifesto" in Wake Up Ron Burgundy.
Maya Rudolph: Electric cars? Man, are you high right now?
Karma Houdini: No one mentioned the Public News Anchor never got punished for pushing off Veronica?
Not to mention Veronica herself, who never gets any comeuppance for screwing with Ron's teleprompter. The boss knew it was her, yet he still fired Ron for it.
Didn't she get pushed into a bear pit and almost mauled to death before Ron saved her?
And then there's the biker who punts Baxter off of a bridge. Not only is he not shown answering to the law for his very illegal act, but the film actually downplays the wrongness of his crime.
Likewise with Brick, who kills someone during the parking lot brawl (although Ron suggests he might want to lay low for a while as the cops are looking for him).
Kick the Dog: Right off a bridge (though in the TV-edited version, it was Throw the Dog). He gets better, though.
Lame Comeback: "Oh yeah? Well you're about to be in ... dead place."
"Hey. Where did you get those clothes? the toilet store?"
Large Ham: Most of the news team, but everything that comes out of Ron's mouth would qualify.
Leave the Camera Running: In-universe example with Ron Burgundy himself: "I love scotch. Scotchy-scotch-scotch."
Major Injury Underreaction: When Luke Wilson's anchorman gets his arm chopped off by Tim Robbins — "Oh, man! I did NOT see that coming!"
Later when the other arm is bitten off by a bear — "Oh, this is ri-goddamn-diculous!"
Male Gaze: The entire Newsteam has some intense Perverse Sexual Lust for Veronica. Just to drive the point home, about half of her early scenes involve the guys gushing about her shapely butt.
Menstrual Menace: Brick's remark that women on the news team will attract bears when they're on their periods is exaggerated by the rest of the news team to suggest they're all being put at risk of a bear attack no matter where they are.
Narrator: Real-life anchorman Bill Curtis doing the opening and closing narration. Most people know him from A&E crime-show narration ("the Menendez brothers..."), but for anybody who grew up watching him on CBS 2-WBBM in Chicago, this was a special treat.
Noodle Incident: "Put down the gun, and let the marching band go. We'll play it off as a prank."
Also, why Brick's charity golf game won't be repeated: "Too many people died last year."
While Brian is busy having the Sex Panther cologne washed off him, one of the men cleaning him comments their current situation is "worse than the time the raccoon got in the copier."
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Many of the characters are based on real San Diego newscasters that were well known to locals back in the 70's.
Though Ron Burgundy himself is allegedly based on a Santa Barbara anchor.
Burgundy himself, at least in appearance, is an almost perfect Expy of long-time San Diego anchor Paul Bloom (see this clip from 1980). Unlike Ron, however, Paul Bloom is known throughout the community for his selfless promotion of charitable causes (particularly the unemployed and homeless).
And one character is apparently based on Peter Mansbridge, the anchor of CBC's The National.
Porn Stache: Several (there's two in the poster alone). Ben Stiller, for one. Also, Danny Trejo.
Ron: Brick, I've been meaning to talk to you about that. You should find yourself a safe house or a relative close by. Lay low for a while, because you're probably wanted for murder.
He's later fired from his job as an NFL commentator for sexually harassing Terry Bradshaw.
Truth in Television: Local TV news in San Diego does love a good baby panda story. It helps the realism that the San Diego Zoo is one of the few zoos outside of China that houses giant pandas.
Earlier, they trade comments when they finish broadcasting for the day. Thankfully, the credits have started rolling, so the viewers at home have no idea what they're saying.
Ron: You've got a dirty, whorish mouth.
Veronica: You have man boobs.
Ron: I'm gonna punch you in the ovary. Right in the babymaker.
Champ Kind went on to become a commentator for the NFL; but was later fired after being accused of sexual harrasment by Terry Bradshaw.
Brian Fantata would have great success as the host of the hit TV show Intercourse Island on the FOX Network.
Brick Tamland is married with 11 children, and is one of the top political advisors to the Bush White House.
Ron Burgundy and Veronica Corningstone didn't stay in San Diego for long; they replaced Bill Curtis and became the first mixed-gender news team, something they're still doing today.
World of Ham: It would be easier to list the lines that aren't hammy.
Worthy Opponent: Even though Wes Mantooth absolutely hates Ron, he respects him even more, which is why he spares him from falling back into the bear pit.
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