Oscars or The Oscars, is an annual American awards ceremony honoring
cinematic achievements in the film industry. The various category
winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially the Academy Award
of Merit, that is better known by its nickname Oscar. The Oscars is the
official title that was rebranded as The Oscars in 2013, changed from
The Academy Awards.
The awards, first presented in 1929 at the
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences. Since the Awards show inception back in 1928, 2,809
Oscars have been awarded.
Although there are seven other types of
annual awards presented by the Academy (the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial
Award, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, the Gordon E. Sawyer
Award, the Academy Scientific and Technical Award, the Academy Award for
Technical Achievement, the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation, and
the Student Academy Award) plus two awards that are not presented
annually (the Special Achievement Award in the form of an Oscar
statuette and the Honorary Award that may or may not be in the form of
an Oscar statuette), the best known one is the Academy Award of Merit
more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. Made of gold-plated
britannium on a black metal base, it is 13.5 in (34 cm) tall, weighs 8.5
lb (3.85 kg) and depicts a knight rendered in Art Deco style holding a
crusader's sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes.