Any time is a good time to reflect on Ron Burgundy. Apart from milestone anniversaries for Anchorman or its sequel, though, there is no better occasion than Will Ferrell’s birthday.
Ferrell, who turns 51 on Monday, has pronounced Anchorman his favorite project to date. He declared as much to The Ringer’s Bill Simmons last summer. It was also his breakthrough as a screenwriter.
The star character’s impact manifests itself through his repeat appearances in lieu of Ferrell on talk shows. He even shows up unannounced when there is no Anchorman project to plug.
Ferrell’s commitment comes through as he disappears behind the moustache, making one forget it’s really him. That feat makes it even easier to view Ron ironically, rather than sympathize with the ever-likable Ferrell within.
Surprisingly, that outstanding change of persona reaped paltry accolades. Ferrell was nominated for an MTV Award after the original, and won an American Comedy Award for the sequel.
One could argue those two films were worthy of more hardware than they got. Nonetheless, Burgundy’s best intangible prizes are his public demand and brimful quotability.
The latter trait yields a bevy of candidates for a competitive ranking. Among the most Burgundy-esque quotes from his two theatrical narratives, these 10 resonate the strongest.
10. “Hey, everyone! Come see how good I look!”
Though he will not admit it, Ron must know how he rose to stardom on San Diego’s most-watched station. It was all a combination of personal appearance and an authoritative speaking voice.
His talent, intellect and educational retention are questionable enough that he must forcefully rely on his telegenic assets. He can only claim to own “many leather-bound books” so many times. Odds are he has not read many lately.
9. “I believe it’s jogging or yogging. It might be a soft J.”
Did Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) and Ron reach their agreement to start jogging together through written communication? Or is Ron hoping Veronica pronounced the word incorrectly, which he could store as proof of his self-professed superior intellect?
The dialogue with his three male colleagues during an in-studio lunch break never explains. But it introduces just enough to keep satisfying our appetites for Ron’s trying-too-hard attempts at an elite persona. In the same scene, he once again misuses the adage “When in Rome.”
8. “Who is Julius Caesar? You know I don’t follow the NBA!”
This line from Anchorman 2 evokes Ron’s one-sided phone call with Veronica in the original. As she struggles in vain to speak, Ron asks, “Is this Wilt Chamberlain?”
Now with this revelation, it’s our turn to ask the questions. Did he even know who Chamberlain was when he name-dropped the NBA star?
Once you assume he did not, his subsequent confession is that much funnier.
7. “I could be wrong, but I believe diversity is an old, old wooden ship that was used during the Civil War era.”
This is another one of Ron’s embarrassing overshots at being a learned storytelling father figure. For good measure, he infuses as much detail of what of when as he can pull out of his backside. If nothing else, naïve San Diegans — including Brick (Steve Carell), who sits next to Ron and nods — would be enthralled by the allusions to ships and the military.
Unlike the “yogging” gaffe, though, he swings and misses before everyone in the office this time. To his credit, station manager Ed Harken (Fred Willard) is kind enough to tell Ron, “nice try.”
6. “It’s terrible! She has beautiful eyes! And her hair smells like cinnamon!”
Ron realizes his object of desire from the previous night is a threat to his colleagues’ toxically masculine culture. The resulting ambivalence takes its toll and manifests itself in this line.
It is obvious Ron slept on his compliments on Veronica’s eyes and hair. If not for his stumbling delivery, one might have assumed he merely worried her presence would be a distraction. Instead, he reaffirms the obvious by offering to lend her his office, then telling his teammates “she has feelings too.”
5. “I want to be on you.”
In his first conversation with Veronica, Ron fails in another honest attempt to hide his motives. This misstep sets the pattern that continues the next day when the four males complain in Ed’s office.
One must wonder why Veronica gives him a mulligan when he starts with an over-the-top assessment of her backside. Regardless, he is rightly done for the night after creating an uncomfortable visual for this stranger.
Even as he tries to call her back, he repeats the faux pas.
4. “Boy, that escalated quickly.”
Real-life media personalities have an evergreen go-to quote for when any situation’s thermometer goes from dormant to pulsating.
A hard-to-read pitch brushes a batter, sparking a bench-clearing brawl. Twitter users coin a trending, mocking hashtag within five minutes of a politician’s remarks. An altercation between otherwise unkown people goes viral, then is revealed to have started under petty pretenses.
The go-to assessment of an eruption that words cannot keep up with is only distinctly Burgundy because he said it first. With that said, the character bequeathed an appreciable gift upon uttering that short sentence.
3. “I’m gonna do the thing that God put Ron Burgundy on this Earth to do. Have salon-quality hair and read the news.”
Early in the sequel, Ron demonstrates a stronger grasp on his limited strengths. Other than the one passive quality and one active task he mentions, what can fetch him a luxurious living?
2. “If I gave you some money from my wallet, would that ease the pain?”
Garth (Chris Parnell) shows the most visible distress in Ron’s infuriating (albeit absent-minded) slight at the city. Yet even as his popularity takes an abrupt 180-degree spiral, Ron keeps taking his belongings as hallowed objects.
He is just that hilariously ignorant and self-absorbed.
1. “I’m in a glass case of emotion!”
Brian (Paul Rudd) is brimming with panic as he informs Ron that Veronica is about to supplant him. All he wants to know is how far Ron is from the studio. A concrete answer would clear the outlook on whether this unpopular development for the chauvinists will happen.
Instead, the distraught Ron cobbles together the only descriptions he can through teary eyes and a cloudier brain. Right now, all that matters is he has lost his beloved Baxter, and the phone booth is his only means of venting his upset. Remember that he articulates his answer after pleading with Brian to “let me say something,” only to wail incoherently again.
In turn, he lends the real media another tongue-in-cheek reference, perfect for implying or observing serious distress over first-world problems.
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