Difference between the Academy Awards and the Oscar Ceremony

Both the Academy Awards and The Oscars mean the same film award. However, the official name is "Academy Awards". When the film prize was first awarded in 1929, this was the name of the prize.

But already in 1931, most people were saying "Oscar" to the film award figure and "The Oscars" instead of "Academy Awards".

The reason why it came to this unofficial renaming is unclear today. However, there are four common rumors, where the name could be come from:

• Often, Margaret Herrick is referred to be the official name giver. Back in the days, she was Executive Secretary of the Academy Awards. When she saw the Oscar figure in 1931, she should have said that the figure is looking like her uncle Oscar (Oscar Pierce).
• In 1932, Walt Disney thanked for his "Oscar", although the price was not officially named Oscar. This may also have lead to calling the prize Oscar today.
• In a biography of the actress Bette Davis, it is claimed that she has named the statue after her husband, "Harmon Oscar Nelson," since the Oscar-figure has reminded her of him.
• Recently also the film columnist Sidney Skolsky is in discussion of being a possible name giver. He should have written the sentence: Employees have affectionately dubbed their famous statuette "Oscar".

Although the distributors (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) are still emphasizing today that Oscar is not the official name of the movie award, the name Oscar already appeared in 1939 at the official dubbed version of the award and was protected by law in 1979.
Last update on 2022-04-01 | Created on 2014-12-10