The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are one of the most well-known and watched awards of the season. These awards are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize achievement in the film industry.
While there are many opinions about the Oscars, especially regarding their lack of diversity, we can look back at their history and see how much has changed.
Here are all the categories the Oscars has had through time:
1927/28 (1st)
In May 1928, the Academy approved the committee’s suggestions to present Academy Awards of Merit in 12 categories:
Only appeared this year
The nominations were made by the entire membership in all categories, which was narrowed down to 10 (to those having the most voted in each category) by five boards of judges. It was later narrowed to 3 recommendations, where a central board of judges selected the final winners.
This isn’t how voting currently works, but it’s another way the Oscars have changed through time.
1929/30 (3rd)
New categories
For the third edition of the Academy Awards, only the titles of the nominated films and their companies were listed. Only the names of the winners were revealed during the ceremony but are currently being credited in the official page of the Academy.
1931/32 (5th)
New categories
1932/33 (6th)
New categories
1934 (7th)
This is the first time that the Academy standardized the practice (which is still in effect) that the award eligibility period for a film would be the preceding calendar year.
New categories
1935 (8th)
New categories
1936 (9th)
New categories
Discontinued categories
These categories were changed for the following: short subject (color), short subject (1 reel), and short subject (2 reel).
1937 (10th)
Discontinued categories
1940 (13th)
New categories
1941 (14th)
New categories
1943 (16th)
New categories
1947 (20th)
New categories
1948 (21st)
New categories
1956 (29th)
Discontinued categories
1957 (30th)
Discontinued categories
1963 (36th)
New categories
1981 (54th)
New categories
1995 (68th)
New categories
1999 (72nd)
Discontinued categories
2001 (74th)
New categories
2020 (93rd)
Discontinued categories
Yet to be implemented
It has been speculated that the Oscars Fan Favorite category is a version to try out how this category could work in the future.
The film industry has changed a lot in the almost 100 years that the Oscars have been organized, with it being shown in the categories, how they nominated the movies, and many other aspects.
