Make your predictions on this year’s Academy & Razzie Award winners!
The entry with the most correct answers wins a movie prize pack. Deadline for entries: Friday, March 8, 6pm. Click here to enter online or grab a paper entry at the library. Entry forms will become available/active on February 1st.
Contest open to library card holders and individuals with the Ypsilanti District Library service area only. Must be able to pick up prize package in person at a YDL building. Limit one entry per person.
What’s all the Buzz about?
The Academy Awards began in 1929 as a way to honor the film-making industry. At the first awards, 15 awards were given out at a private dinner party, and the ceremony lasted about 15 minutes. The next year, in 1930, the awards were broadcast by radio. They began to air on television in 1953. Since 2002, the awards have been presented in the Dolby Theater.
What’s the difference between an Academy Awards and the Oscars?
Nothing! The Academy Awards are the same as the Oscars. The awards are given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, often referred to as “the Academy” each year.
Then why is the trophy called an Oscar?
No one is entirely sure who first coined the term, but the art-deco statue seems to bear a striking resemblance to a lot of people named Oscar. Bette Davis, an Academy president, claimed to have named it after her husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson. However, Margaret Herrick, an executive director at the Academy, claims she named it after her cousin, Oscar Pierce. Other theories exist, but no one’s sure which is true.
Fun facts about the Oscars:
- When winners receive their Oscar on stage, they’re holding an unengraved statuette. To prevent spoilers, Oscar winners don’t receive an engraved plaque until after the ceremony.
- If a winner wants to sell their Oscar, they must first offer it to the Academy for $1.
- There are currently 24 categories of awards.
- 6 films have had their nominations revoked before the awards ceremony. Only one movie has ever had its Oscar revoked (Young Americans, 1969).
- The Oscar is 13.5 inches tall and weighs 8.5 pounds.