What is the history of the Oscars

The Glitz and Glamour of Hollywood's Most Prestigious Awards: Tracing the Evolution and Cultural Significance of the Oscars

The Academy Awards, or “Oscars” as they are commonly known, have been a major part of Hollywood culture since the first ceremony in 1929. The event was created by Louis B. Mayer and Douglas Fairbanks Sr., two film industry moguls who wanted to create an annual celebration of excellence in cinema artistry. Since then, it has become one of the most prestigious awards ceremonies on Earth with millions tuning in to watch each year from all around the world.

At its inception there were only 15 categories being recognized: Outstanding Picture; Unique and Artistic Production; Best Actress and Actor; Supporting Actress & Actor (individually awarded); Director (individual), Writing Achievement Original Story/Adaptation Screenplay/Dialogue; Cinematography–Black-and-White Film Color Film; Interior Decoration – Black-and White or color films; Music score for Dramatic Pictures; Comedy Pictures, Musical Picture Scoring (Comedy Picture, Musical Picture). Over time those original fifteen categories expanded to include more than twenty different honors such as Sound Editing, Visual Effects, Animated Feature Films, Short Subjects, and Documentary Features. By today's standards that might seem quite limited but at the time these Oscars represented some very important recognition within this brand new entertainment medium called "motion pictures". 

In the nearly 100 years of cinematic history, few awards shows have achieved as much fame and prestige as The Academy Awards. Since 1929, the Oscars has been a landmark moment in film recognizing some of the greatest filmmaking achievements over the previous twelve months. With such an impressive list of past winners and celebrated ceremonies comes great memories – here are just some exceptional highlights from Oscar’s fascinating history:

1) Marlon Brando Refusal – In 1973 Best Actor winner Marlon Brando made headlines when he refused to accept his award for The Godfather (1972). Instead Sacheen Littlefeather took up stage time on behalf of 3rd party Native American rights activists; her speech was met with boos but is now remembered fondly by many social justice advocates today.  

2) Hattie McDaniel Becomes First African-American Winner – This honour went to Hattie McDaniel who won best supporting actress for her role in Gone With Wind (1939). 

3) Silent Movies Reign Supreme – It may be hard currently to imagine that silent films were once box office kingpins during early 20th century cinema – yet they unsurprisingly also did well come award season too; taking home 11 academy awards between 1927 and 1930 alone. Notable wins included Wings (1927), 7th Heaven (1928) and Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (1929).

4) Streaker Strikes Red Carpet Runway At 1974 Show – Nowadays security staff tend to keep celebrities safe from any potential gatecrashers or nuisance makers, back in the ‘70s things weren't quite so tightly run it seems! As evidenced by Robert Opel’s stunt on the red carpet which captured imaginations world wide after he streaked across the star studded arrivals walk wearing nothing more than a smile.

5.) John Ford Wins Record 4 Directing Oscars – Outstanding work behind the camera cemented the status and legend of four time directing category victor John Ford. His directorial credits include classics such as Stagecoach, My Darling Clementine, Grapes of Wrath and How Green Was My Valley – each helping him make his way into record books.

Unfortunately though, not every year has been smooth sailing when it comes to these awards ceremonies – here we look at some of the worst moments from Oscar history:

1) The wrong movie being announced as Best Picture (2017): In 2017 a huge mix up occurred during what is always considered a very serious ceremony where stars get congratulated on their hard work throughout the year in feature films – Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were asked to present who they thought was best picture winner, La La Land. The award was really meant to go to Moonlight instead! This caused confusion all around before producers had to come out on stage and explain how this could happen; turns out there were two duplicate cards with both movie names written on them which led to this embarrassing incident.

2) Rob Lowe & Snow White performance (1989): During 1989's show someone decided it would be funny if actor Rob Lowe performed alongside none other than Disney character Snow White. While people praised his singing abilities, despite the awkward dancing from “Snowy,” many found issue with her appearance due mostly because she seemed too sexualised for kids watching – which made it even worse since children typically watch family shows like this regularly. Industry members also made noise, saying that stunts like this undermined the credibility surrounding the award winners and nominees.