It’s that time of year, ladies and gentlemen. No, we’re not talking about filing your taxes (although it is that time of year as well). We’re talking about Oscar season!
The nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences—or simply “the Academy” as the movie stars say—were announced on January 15th. In case you don’t keep up with pop culture, these eight films have been nominated to receive the Best Picture award on February 22 (drumroll, please):
- “American Sniper”
- “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
- “Boyhood”
- “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
- “The Imitation Game”
- “Selma”
- “The Theory of Everything”
- “Whiplash”
Debuting on TV in 1953, the Oscars are the oldest entertainment awards ceremony in America and are televised in over 200 countries around the world. Of course, you can’t watch the Oscars without seeing those world-famous gold trophies the winners hold in the air.
But are they really made of gold?
Oscar Trophy Facts
The Oscar statuette is easily one of the most recognizable trophies in the world. Standing 13.5 inches tall and weighing in at 8.5 lbs., the interior of the golden award is actually composed of a metal alloy called Britannium (93 percent tin, 5 percent antimony, and 2 percent copper) and plated with 24-karat gold.
Here are a few other surprising and entertaining facts about the Oscar trophy:
- If the Oscar award was made of solid gold, each statuette would be worth about $160,000.
- The first Oscar trophies were made of gold-plated bronze.
- During World War II, the Oscars trophies were made of plaster. After the war was over, the statues were swapped out for the normal gold-plated ones.
- The Academy has requisitioned the statuettes from a Chicago metalworking company (R.S. Owens & Company) for over 30 years.
- Since the first Academy Awards in 1929, over 2,800 statuettes have been issued. If they were all made out of gold bullion, together they would value approximately $450,000,000.
- If made of solid gold, the twenty or so statuettes that will be handed out at this years’ ceremony would be worth enough to rebuild the entire Dolby Theater from the ground up.
Which films and actors/actresses do you think deserve an Oscar this year?
Cast your vote in the comments below or Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
