The Big Picture

• Wake Up, Ron Burgundy was created from outtakes and deleted scenes, offering an alternative version of events similar to Anchorman.
• The film is even more anarchic than its predecessor, introducing new characters and an action-comedy subplot.
• Although not what fans expected, Wake Up, Ron Burgundy laid the groundwork for the successful sequel, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.

The sketch comedy format Saturday Night Live was successful in launching many future comedy superstars, as the opportunity to play multiple characters in a variety of different scenarios proved to be beneficial in building a performer's comedic skills. While Saturday Night Live spawned the careers of Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, and future Academy Award winner Robert Downey Jr., none of the show’s alumni dominated 21st-century comedy like Will Ferrell. Ferrell may have first been exposed to audiences thanks to the Christmas blockbuster Elf and Todd Phillips’ fraternity comedy Old School, but his talents were fully unleashed thanks to his collaboration with writer/director Adam McKay on the 2004 classic Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Although it ended up kicking off a sustained creative partnership between Ferrell and McKay, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy also had a direct-to-DVD sequel consisting of outtakes and deleted scenes.

‘Wake Up, Ron Burgundy’ Was Created Throughout Outtakes and Deleted Scenes

While it helped popularize a style of anarchic, sporadic humor that was relatively unseen in mainstream American studio comedies, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a brilliant work of satire that unpacks clichés about the journalism industry and stereotypes of toxic masculinity. The film centers on Ferrell’s arrogant, yet charismatic performance as the titular anchorman, who is forced to reckon with the evolution of the news media and the growth of women in the workplace. While initially opposed to the notion of having a female co-anchor in Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), Ron grows to recognize that he must change with the industry. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that McKay went on to make more obliquely political films like The Big Short and Don’t Look Up, as the basis of his satirical perspective was established in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

While the success of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is synonymous with Ferrell’s performance, much of the film’s brilliance relied on the film’s spirit of inventiveness. Many of the most humorous exchanges of dialogue between Ron, Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), Champ Kind (David Koechner), and Brick Tamland (Steve Carrell) were the result of improvisation on the part of both the actors and McKay; by encouraging a free-spirited approach to the narrative, McKay ended up creating some of the weirdest and most shocking moments of the film. However, there were so many outtakes and improvised storylines in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy that it couldn’t all fit into the theatrical cut. McKay and Ferrell were left with a treasure trove of great footage that couldn’t be used, as it would disrupt the narrative construction of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

While some comedy films release extended editions or include bonus material on their home video releases, Ferrell and McKay decided to give Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy fans an entirely different experience. The deleted scenes and outtakes from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy were transformed into a direct-to-DVD film that was included with the release of the original in 2004. Wake Up, Ron Burgundy wasn’t quite a traditional comedy sequel, nor was it a remake. Rather, the direct-to-DVD film was an “alternative version of events” that started in the same place as the original film before going in a dramatically different direction.

‘Wake Up, Ron Burgundy’ Is Even More Anarchic Than ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'

Although Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is an all-time classic comedy because of its unpredictability, Wake Up, Ron Burgundy is perhaps even wilder than the original film. Although it begins similarly by introducing Ron and his news team, Wake Up, Ron Burgundy introduces the new characters of Mouse (Tara Subkoff), Kanshasha X (Maya Rudolph), Malcolm Y (Chuck D), and Paul Hauser (Kevin Corrigan), who form a terrorist group known as “The Alarm Clock.” The group commits a series of bank robberies throughout Los Angeles that are subsequently covered by Ron and his team as they make their nightly news reports.

Although initially the two subplots are separated, Wake Up, Ron Burgundy makes Ron and his team the target of “The Alarm Clock” and their attempt to stage a political revolution. Convinced that Ron and his team are responsible for perpetuating propaganda, the terrorists decide to kidnap Veronica and force her to read their incendiary political message on air. While in the original film, Ron decides to rejoin the news team to make peace with Veronica, he’s actually tasked with saving her life in Wake Up, Ron Burgundy. It felt as if McKay and Ferrell were testing the envelope by making an action comedy, which he ultimately would with his 2010’s The Other Guys.

‘Wake Up, Ron Burgundy’ Laid the Groundwork for ‘Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues'

While Wake Up, Ron Burgundy certainly has its funny moments, it wasn’t exactly the sequel that Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy fans had expected. The footage never truly strings together coherently, and may have been best included as merely a series of deleted scenes. However, with the release of Wake Up, Ron Burgundy indicated that Ferrell and McKay had more ideas about the Anchorman universe that they weren’t able to fit within just one movie. They eventually reunited in 2013 for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, one of the rare comedy sequels that is just as good as the first film. While the notion of a third installment in the Anchorman series would be an exciting one, it now feels like an impossibility given that McKay and Ferrell have split their partnership.

Wake Up, Ron Burgundy is available to rent on Apple TV+ in the U.S.

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