Let us now praise the famous little man.  

His story begins in 1927, when MGM art director Cedric Gibbons was tasked with creating a statuette. Gibbons drew up a simple, stylized knight gripping a sword and standing on a reel of film. The sword represented protection of the welfare of the film industry, and not, as some have suggested, for fighting off a Black Panther. The five spokes of the film reel represented actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers. The statuette was then cast in 3D by sculptor George Stanley.    

It was originally called the Academy Award of Merit, but a nickname was allegedly coined by Academy librarian and future executive director Margaret Herrick. She looked at the statuette and exclaimed, “It looks just like my uncle Oscar.” Other folks argue the name came from Betty Davis, in reference to her ex-husband Harmon Oscar Nelson Jr. (She never said why she divorced him; perhaps he was guilty of some sort of Vice like being a BlacKkKansman.) In 1934, Walt Disney – who preferred Jungle Books to Green ones – used the word “Oscar” in an article in Time magazine. By 1939, the Academy had made the name official.    

The award is virtually unchanged since it was first conceived. It was originally made of solid bronze, gold-plated, and placed on a pedestal of black marble. During the shortages of World War II – when our boys were fighting to liberate places like Roma – it was cast out of plaster. In 1945, the entire statuette and the pedestal reverted back to metal. And starting in 1949, each individual award was numbered, starting with the the totally arbitrary number 501.  

Today, Oscar is a little Bohemian: made out of a cheap alloy, and standing only 13.5 inches tall.    

But the value of winning one is immeasurable. It doesn’t matter whether you are a dark horse or the Favourite.

Win an Oscar: a Star is Born