Awards / Oscar 1929 - 2026

The Oscar is considered the main film award in the United States. The Academy consists of just over 6,000 people. Two years after the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts was established in 1927, the Baltimore Hotel hosted a dinner to discuss ways to encourage outstanding film achievement. As a result, sculptor George Stanley was chosen to create the statuette, and a knight was born, standing on a jar with film and holding a sword in his hand. The Oscar statuette was designed by Cedric Gibbons. more

The Oscar is considered the main film award in the United States.

The Academy consists of just over 6,000 people.

Two years after the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts was established in 1927, the Baltimore Hotel hosted a dinner to discuss ways to encourage outstanding film achievement. As a result, sculptor George Stanley was chosen to create the statuette, and a knight was born, standing on a jar with film and holding a sword in his hand.

The Oscar statuette was designed by Cedric Gibbons. Each statuette is made of gold-covered Britannium and rests on a pedestal of black marble.

The height of the statuette is 34 cm, the diameter of the podium is 13 cm, the weight is 3.85 kg. The statuette is made in five stages: the alloy of tin with lead is covered with copper, then nickel, then silver and, finally, 24-carat gold. The statuette depicts a knight with a sword in his hands, standing on a reel with film. The coil consists of five parts, symbolizing the 5 directions of the Academy (actors, directors, producers, technical specialists and screenwriters).

In the form in which it exists today, the golden statuette was presented at the first ceremony, but the name "Oscar" appeared only in 1939. According to the most common version, the award owes its name to the librarian of the Academy (later its executive director) Margaret Herrick, who exclaimed at her sight: “This figure resembles my Uncle Oscar!” Since 1939, the Academy Prize has been known under this name and is considered the most prestigious film award in the world.

The ceremony was postponed three times: 1938 due to the devastating flooding in Los Angeles, 1968 due to the assassination of Martin Luther King, 1981 due to the assassination of President Ronald Reagan.

Most often the ceremony took place in the concert hall Doroty Chandler Pavillion - 25 times. The first Oscar ceremony was held in Hollywood at the Roosevelt Hotel in 1929. The duration of the ceremony was only four and a half minutes.

The record holder for the number of gold statuettes won to this day remains Walt Disney, founder of the Walt Disney Pictures studio - 26 awards.

The record for the most awards (11) is shared by three films: Ben-Hur (1959), Titanic (1997) and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).

Film
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003) achieved a unique achievement, winning 11 awards out of 11 possible, the anti-record belongs to the film "The Flowers of the Lila Fields" (1985)
- no award out of 11 possible.

The length of the red carpet is about 150 meters, the width is about 10 meters. It consists of several rolls, each weighing 135 kg, and its total weight is five tons. The carpet is delivered four days before the ceremony in two huge trucks. It takes two days and 21 people to spread the path: connect all the parts, hide the joints and level. Immediately after the ceremony, the track begins to be removed. It only takes 4 hours.

Large statues of “Oscar”, installed along the red carpet, height from 2.5 to 8 meters and weighing up to 550 kilograms, are made of fiberglass. Then lined with the thinnest sheets of aluminum and covered with yellow paint. They are not painted with gold not in order to save money: just a special yellow paint looks better in the light of spots than gold.

So that the stars do not get confused who sits where, posters with their portraits and names are put on the chairs. Actors who played together in the same film are put next to each other, but their marital status is also taken into account: spouses and simply lovers will also be in the hall next to each other.

Even the stars are carefully inspected. First, the police check the limousines on which the actors drive to the cinema, and then at the entrance to the red carpet, all celebrities present invitations and pass through a metal detector.

Currently, the process of counting votes for nominees is conducted by specialists of the audit company Pricewaterhouse. Two of the company's experts and four of their assistants process more than 6,000 ballots sent by members of the American Film Academy.

During the work, which takes three days, they are in a strictly classified place. Before the Oscars, only two Pricewaterhouse experts know the winners. Even assistant auditors are allowed only before the pre-counting procedure.

After the winners in each category are determined, the cards with their names are placed in envelopes that are printed on the stage during the ceremony. Pricewaterhouse employees make two sets of such envelopes and place them in special portfolios. On the eve of the Oscars, two briefcases are delivered to the venue at different times and routes, which are also kept strictly secret.