The official name of the Oscar statuette is the Academy Award of Merit. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was set up in 1927 as a non-profit organization with 36 members. In 2003 it had a voting membership of 5,816.

The gold-plated statuette is made of an alloy called britannia. It is 13.5 inches (34 cm) tall and weighs 8.5 lb (3.85 kg). It depicts a knight with a crusader's sword, standing on a reel of film with five spokes, signifying the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers and Technicians.

There are few theories as to how the trophy became to be known as Oscar. One of the most popular stories is that Academy librarian Margaret Herrick said the statue looked like her uncle Oscar. The conversation was apparently overheard by a journalist who later used the moniker in an article. The Academy itself didn't use the nickname officially until 1939.

Born in 1928, the Oscar has changed his look on occasion. Walt Disney was honored for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with one full-size and seven miniature statuettes. During WWII, Oscars were made of plaster, to be replaced with the golden statuettes after the war.

Oscars are manufactured in Chicago by R.S. Owens, and it takes 20 hours and 12 people to manufacture a statuette. The company also repairs the statuettes occasionally, and has repaired more than 160 statuettes since 1995.

The first Academy Awards were handed out in 1929 at dinner held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Just 270 guests attended the ceremony with ticket prices at $5.

Since its inception 2,530 Oscars have been handed out, and three people have refused the trophy, including actor George C Scott, writer Dudley Nichols and actor Marlon Brando, who turned down his award for The Godfather in 1973 in protest of Hollywood's apparent discrimination against Native Americans.

The official website, oscar.com
List of Academy Award winning films
In pictures: Making the Oscars