'Anchorman' Movie Facts (16 pics)

1

Co-writer and director Adam McKay has said that in the first draft of the script, the story was about a planeload of news anchors who crash in the mountains and discover that the plane which they collided was carrying monkeys and martial arts equipment, leading to a battle between cannibalistic newsmen and star-throwing monkeys.

2

Ron's dog is named after Ted Baxter, WJM news anchor of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970).

3

During an October 2019 AV Club interview with Tim Robbins, he mentioned that he agreed to take the small roles in High Fidelity (2000) and Anchorman (even though he knew he would be paid very little for them) because they promised to make him a custom wig for each of the roles, both of which he got to keep after filming ended. Robbins said that he still owns both wigs as of 2019, and he often uses them in Halloween costumes.

The film had been pitched to DreamWorks almost 20 times before, following the successes of Old School (2003) and Elf (2003). DreamWorks had little faith in the film, doubting Will Ferrell and Adam McKay could pull off an entire film based on news anchors. The film ended up grossing $84 million domestically.

4

Champ's line "I will take your mother, Dorothy Mantooth, out for a nice seafood dinner and never call her again" is a paraphrase of a line from the comic book series "Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future", where Dare's nemesis, the Mekon, makes an identical threat against Dorothy Dare.

5

In the scene where Ron calls Brian from the phonebooth, the Rubik's Cube on Brian's desk only has four squares per side. (Standard ones have nine per side).

Ron Burgundy's license plate is "IM #1."

6

John C. Reilly was offered a role, but turned it down because he was filming The Aviator (2004). He says that he regrets the decision. He was cast in a cameo in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013).

7

Will Ferrell's character, Ron Burgundy, was inspired by veteran Detroit WDIV-TV broadcaster Mort Crim.

8

Maggie Gyllenhaal auditioned for the role of Veronica.

The zoo scenes were filmed at the old Los Angeles Zoo, which closed in 1965. The remaining buildings are a tourist attraction in Griffith Park.

9

The movie's epilogue claims that Brick went on to become a top advisor in George W. Bush's Presidential administration. Steve Carell went on to play Bush's Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in Vice (2018), also directed by Adam McKay.

10

Will Ferrell has played flute since elementary school.