The Oscar statue

The Academy Award, also known as the Oscar, is a honorary statuette of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, awarded to the professionals in the film industry as a recognition of their work. Actors, directors, writers receive this award during the official ceremony which takes place every year. Known all around the world as the Oscars, it is the most famous of its kind. Other similar ceremonies and awards honoring the 7th art are the Emmy and the Golden Globe. The statuette of the Oscars is one of the most recognizable awards in the world and has been decorating the shelves of Academy members from 1929 till today. When the Academy members first decided on an annual ceremony, the artistic director of MGM Cedric Gibbons designed a statuette of a knight standing on a reel of film, in art deco style. With the Academy blessings, the famous sculptor George Stanley from L.A. turned the design into a statuette, thus shaping the famous “Oscar”. Since the first ceremony on the 16th of May, 1929, at the Roosevelt Hotel, 2.701 statuettes have been awarded to contributors of the film industry. On January of every year, new statuettes are molded, sculpted, shined and packaged by R.S. Owens, the company which has been making them in Chicago since 1982. The “Oscar” has a height of 13,5 inches and weights 8,5 lbs. The film reel on which it proudly stands has 5 five spokes, each represent the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers, and Technicians. Even though the shape of the statue has remained identical over the years, its base was different until 1945, when it took the shape know today. The official name is the Merit award, although its nickname Oscar is the one that has prevailed. Even though the origins of that nickname are not certain, one of the most dominant stories is the one of the Academy's Executive Secretary, Margaret Herrick, who when seeing the statue for the first time, said that it resembled her ”uncle Oscar”. Even though the Academy did not adopt the name Oscar for the awards untill 1939, the nickname was already famous around Hollywood since 1934, thanks to reporter Sidney Skolsky who used it in an article concerning Katharine Hepburn’s award for best actress. The statues awarded in the first ceremonies were made in copper and covered in gold leaves. Soon the copper was replaced by the Britannia metal, a lighter amalgam covered by copper, nickel silver, and 24 carat gold. Due to the lack of metal during WWII, the Oscars where made during three years in plaster and painted in gold color. Right after the end of the war, the Academy replaced the plaster statues by original ones, thus reinstituting the legitimacy of the award. Every year, the 25 categories applying to the extravagant world of films receive their award. Even though these categories remain the same, hosts never know in advance the quantity of statuettes needed, due to ties or special awards. Everyone has therefore to wait for the moment the envelopes with the winning names are opened for the final results. Based on that uncertainty, the Academy uses a number of awards from years past in order to cover any unexpected need. For over 80 years, the Oscar awards have been the highest honor in the world of showbiz, surpassing even the greatest idea of acceptance Cedric Gibbons might have had while designing it. {gallery}oscars{/gallery}