After Will Ferrell's Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy took in an estimated $28 million and landed in second place at the weekend box office, we took it upon ourselves to help flush out the work of producers for esteemed shows such as ET and Access Hollywood and get to the bottom of things: just who is Ron Burgundy, Anchorman?

After flipping through a copy of the June, 1979 issue of National Lampoon (or, to be honest, the version archived on the Lampoon's website, since we don't actually collect old magazines like a goddamned packrat), realization set in that we were gazing upon the Genesis of an Institution, and the Dawn of Buffoonery. The following images are taken from a feature entitled "Emergency Fathering", written by John Hughes, Tom Corcoran, Gerrald Sussman, and Judy Corcoran.

Are we looking at illustrated archival documentation of the Ron Burgundy's baby years, which might in some way explain the character's later behavior as an adult? But wouldn't that make Ron a youthful 25 years old today? And, wait, isn't the film itself set in the 1970s? Oh my god, I totally cannot process all of this. Maybe it's merely cinematic inspiration?

Only John Hughes knows for sure. I, meanwhile, am off to go watch Wonderland and then Boogie Nights. Or vice versa.