Howstuffworks.com's "How the Oscars Work"

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How the Oscars Work
by Debbie Selinsky

We all complain about the length of the annual Academy Awards Ceremony -- a record-breaking four hours, nine minutes this year -- but millions of us can't resist the sheer glamour and drama of the movie industry's top awards extravaganza. We watch to see if our favorite actors and movies win the coveted gold Oscars. But we also watch to find out who's seeing whom in the fast-changing Hollywood scene and who's wearing what; Oscar attire critiques dominate the airwaves on the day after. (The red carpet walk into the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium has become a favorite hangout for star seekers -- there are even bleachers set up so they can watch in comfort.)

But this year, high drama occurred before the 72nd annual awards ceremony in the form of missing ballots and missing Oscars. First some members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who vote for the Oscars complained that they hadn't received ballots for the final vote. By the time a bundle of the ballots was found in a post office, new ones had been printed and the voting deadline extended. Then the disappearance of more than 50 Oscar statuettes made national news. In Hollywood-happy-ending style just in time for the ceremony, scrap metal dealer Willie Fulgear found 52 of the 55 statuettes in the garbage and returned them. He was given a $50,000 reward from the Chicago manufacturer of the Oscars and thanked by host Billy Crystal (serving his seventh stint as Academy Awards host) during the March 26 ceremony.

What exactly is it that gives us Oscar fever every spring and sends us racing off to the movie theater to catch the last couple of nominated films and even make wagers on our favorites? In this edition of How Stuff Works, we'll look at the history of the Academy Awards, the voting process, what the awards mean to the success of films and actors and how the little gold men are actually made. Break out the popcorn and let's look at the Oscars.

Go to the next article or pick from the table of contents:

Introduction to How the Oscars Work You are here

What Are the Academy Awards and How Long Have They Been Around?

How Are Oscar Winners Selected?

How Does the Future Look for Movies and the Oscars?

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