Oscars Quiz
Every detail of the golden statuette has a story, from what it is made of to what it stands on.
An Oscars quiz with answers about the Academy Awards themselves: the statuette, landmark wins, unusual honours and how the ceremony began. There are no spoilers for any film's plot.
Did you know?
- As of 2026, only three films have won all five major awards, known as the Big Five: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay. They are It Happened One Night (1934), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
- The ballots are counted by an accounting firm that has handled the votes for decades. Its partners memorise the winners and carry duplicate sets of envelopes to the ceremony, travelling by separate routes so that the results arrive safely even if something goes wrong on the way.
- Some award-winning performances were remarkably short. Beatrice Straight won Best Supporting Actress for 'Network' (1976) with only about five minutes of screen time, one of the briefest performances ever to win an acting Oscar. She appeared in only a handful of scenes, yet her single emotional speech carried the role.
How the Oscars became the biggest night in film
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded in 1927 by leading figures from the Hollywood studios, and its awards soon became the film industry's best-known honour. Members vote within their own branches for most nominations, so actors nominate actors and editors nominate editors, while the whole membership chooses Best Picture. Over the decades, the ceremony grew from a private dinner into a television event followed by audiences in many countries.
The statuette
The statuette was designed by MGM art director Cedric Gibbons and sculpted by George Stanley. It shows a stylised knight holding a sword and standing on a reel of film, a design that has barely changed since 1929. Since 1951, winners have had to agree that they, or their heirs, will offer the statuette back to the Academy for one dollar before selling it. The rule was introduced to stop the awards from becoming ordinary collectors' items.
Rules and categories
The categories have changed often. Early ceremonies included awards for title writing and dance direction, which disappeared as films changed. Best Animated Feature was first awarded for films released in 2001, and the foreign-language category was renamed Best International Feature Film in 2020. To qualify, most films must be shown in cinemas in selected US cities for a minimum run, even when they are released mainly through streaming services. The Academy reviews these rules every year, so details can change between ceremonies.
From radio to worldwide broadcasts
The first ceremony was private, but radio coverage began in 1930 and the first television broadcast followed in 1953. Colour broadcasts started in 1966, and today the show reaches viewers around the world. Long thank-you speeches led the Academy to introduce time limits, with music playing to signal the end. Hosts, performances of nominated songs and tributes to film history have become as familiar as the sealed envelopes from which presenters read the winners' names.