Summary

• The original script for Anchorman was even wilder with a plane crash and musical sharks.
• The finished movie strikes the right balance between wild antics and a streamlined plot.
• Anchorman's smart satire of workplace sexism shines through the chaos and goofiness.

As wild as it may sound, the original script for Anchorman was somehow even more chaotic and random than the finished movie. While director Adam McKay set his sights on sharper political satire later in his career, Anchorman remains one of the weirdest mainstream comedies of all time. The satirical 2004 comedy is set in an over-the-top version of the ’70s where Will Ferrell’s mustachioed anchor Ron Burgundy reigns supreme. His loyal squad of colleagues, including the dimwitted Brick Tamland and the absurdly misogynistic Champ Kind, follow Burgundy’s lead as the egotistical celebrity struggles to welcome his new co-anchor.

At its core, Anchorman is a satire of workplace sexism. However, many of the most iconic moments from Adam McKay and Will Ferrell’s best collaboration don’t even address this theme. What made Anchorman such a hit was its loose, knockabout plot, which involves a wild street fight between rival news gangs, a climax set in a bear pit, and a goofy sex scene set to “Afternoon Delight.” However, despite how memorably surreal the finished movie’s story was, the original script was even stranger.

The Original Anchorman Script Featured A Plane Crash In The Mountains & Musical Sharks

Anchorman’s first draft was even wackier than the finished film

The bizarre plot would have seen Ron and company consider resorting to cannibalism whilst a group of orangutans armed with throwing stars hunted them down.

According to Ferrell, some of Anchorman’s funniest moments, it also boasted a storyline wherein Anchorman’s heroes were involved in a plane crash that left them stranded in the mountains. Clearly riffing on the real-life tragedy that occurred in the Andes in 1972, this bizarre plot would have seen Ron and company consider resorting to cannibalism whilst a group of orangutans armed with throwing stars hunted them down. Plus, McKay said that a musical number featuring sharks was cut from the movie.

Some of this was filmed, with many of the scrapped scenes being used in the alternate cut Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie. This ramshackle retelling of the movie’s story also features a subplot about terrorists, but even this was more comprehensible than the scenes removed from the original script. Most of these centered around Ron and his fellow news anchors surviving after escaping the wreckage of the plane, with one running gag seeing Veronica suggest walking to civilization while the rest of the crew ignore her ideas. While funny, this plot could have fallen apart onscreen.

Anchorman's Original Plan May Have Been Too Ridiculous To Actually Work

The Will Ferrell vehicle needed a cohesive plot to keep viewers invested

The most quotable lines in Anchorman are all moments of inspired silliness, but the movie’s storyline is a satire of workplace sexism wrapped in an enemies-to-lovers rom-com plot.

The likes of Putney Swope prove that comedy movies can take the weirdness beyond what Anchorman offers and not suffer for it, but that may not be the case with Anchorman itself. Anchorman’s story works primarily because the movie does have a point beneath all of its semi-improvised goofiness. The most quotable lines in Anchorman are all moments of inspired silliness, but the movie’s storyline is a satire of workplace sexism wrapped in an enemies-to-lovers rom-com plot. It’s straightforward, smart, and unabashedly accessible despite the movie’s weirdness.

Trying to make the plot itself less comprehensible and more bizarre would have run the risk of ruining the movie’s pacing.

If Anchorman’s plot was as odd as its characters, the movie could have lacked direction and failed to find an audience. Much like its follow-up, Talladega Nights, Anchorman won over a mainstream audience because the movie fused a simple, compelling story with wild, endlessly inventive verbal and visual comedy. Trying to make the plot itself less comprehensible and more bizarre would have run the risk of ruining the movie’s pacing. Many of McKay’s better movies followed this formula, with The Other Guys borrowing its basic setup from buddy cop movies, Talladega Nights being an inspirational sports movie, and Anchorman functioning as a workplace rom-com.

The Finished Will Ferrell Movie Features Just The Right Amount Of Wild Antics

A relatively streamlined plot allowed Anchorman to prioritize character work

Anchorman features a great deal of wild antics, but it is never hard to tell what the stakes of the story are or what motivates the characters to do the things they do. With a more shapeless plot, Anchorman could have amounted to little more than a lot of talented comic performers riffing with little direction or purpose. In contrast, Anchorman’s streamlined story lets the actors play off each other with wild abandon, resulting in hilarious scenes that feel loose and improvised but always serve a purpose within the larger plot.

This is perhaps best epitomized in the infamous fight scene between Ron’s gang and the rest of the city’s news teams. On the face of it, this bizarre non-sequitur is just an excuse to parody everything from West Side Story to Braveheart while facilitating cameos from the likes of Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller. However, in the context of the movie, this ridiculous brawl underlines how much machismo defines Ron’s world, which in turn explains why he is so incapable of understanding Veronica’s presence in the newsroom. Like all of Anchorman’s goofiness, this scene secretly serves a plot purpose.

You can watch Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy on Paramount+