It was in 1927 that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences started talks to find a way to honor achievements within the industry and that at the same time promote quality in all facets of a film production.
MGM art director Cedric Gibbons submitted a proposal for a statuette of a knight holding a sword with a film reel in front with elements representing the five main branches: aactors, directors, producers, technicians and writers. The Board of Directors accepted the proposal and by 1928 its manufacture was already being planned.
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the sculptor George Stanley was chosen by Gibbons to give the three-dimensional shape to the design, for which they did not use models. After several sketches, it was decided to put the roll of film under his feet and that is how the statuette that we all know today was born.
According to La Academia, since 1929, at the first banquet in the Blossom Ballroom at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, about three thousand figures have been delivered. Each year in January, additional new gold statuettes are cast, molded, polished and polished by RS Owens & Company, the specialist awards company with facilities in Chicago.
The statuette measures approx. 33 inches tall and weighs around four kiloshis design has never changed since its original conception and its official name is Academy Award of Merit (Academy Award®of Merit), but the statuette is better known by its nickname, Oscar, although its origin has different stories.
One of the most popular theories is based on the fact that the executive director of The Academy, Margaret Herrick he told the other members that the statuette resembled his uncle Oscar, and from that moment that name stuck with him and for his sixth presentation in 1934, the Hollywood columnist, Sidney Skolsky, used this name in his editorial space when referring to to the first Best Actress winner, Katharine Hepburn. The Academy itself did not use this nickname officially until 1939.
Throughout its history, the material of the figurine has also varied depending on the historical context and the availability of certain metals, today its main material is bronze with gold plated.
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At the moment, receiving this statuette is the greatest symbol of cinematic achievement.
“Its success, as a symbol of cinematographic achievement, would undoubtedly surprise those who attended that dinner, more than 80 years ago, as well as its designer, Cedric Gibbons,” says the Academy on its official site to honor the career of the award ceremony, as well as the nominees and those who have been winners.
