The Academy Gave Walt Disney The Most Unique Oscars Trophy In History

The Academy Awards may not always possess the best track record of commemorating the best films of any given year, but there's no doubt that winning an Oscar is a big deal. It's essentially a canonization in the annals of film history that provides insight into the cultural sphere at the time. But while tastes have certainly changed since the ceremony's inaugural banquet in 1929, most award recipients have received the same golden statue that just about everyone is familiar with.

The Oscar, weighing 8 ½ pounds and standing 13 ½ inches tall, has largely stuck to the design of a sword-wielding knight. According to The Academy, the gold-plated bronze bastion of cinematic excellence settles atop a reel of film, with each spoke representing the institution's five original branches. Its form is the result of MGM art director Cedric Gibbons and LA sculptor George Stanley. The award's simplicity is only matched by its iconographic symbol and there doesn't seem to be any reason to change it.

For over a century, an Oscar has been the benchmark for industry success — even if it doesn't always lead to more opportunities. Plenty have won their own Knight of the Hollywood Guard, with some winning one multiple times. But no one has matched the record currently held in place by Walt Disney.

Having been nominated 59 times, Disney ultimately took home 26 statues, with most of them being for his animated shorts. 22 of those Oscars came from wins in competitive categories, while four of them were honorary accolades. Among those is one of the most interesting variations on the traditional gold statue that the Academy has ever conceived.

At the 11th Academy Awards, child star Shirley Temple presented Disney with an honorary Oscar commemorating "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." The first full-length animated feature film — at least on behalf of a major studio — had been nominated the previous year for Best Music (Scoring). But the critical and box office success was so notable that the Academy had a special one made consisting of a traditional Oscar with seven miniature ones attached to it on a descending staircase — each representing the seven dwarfs.

I feel it's worth noting that Disney hilariously responds to the unique bit of craftsmanship with a casual "I'm so proud, I think I'll bust."

All jokes aside, it's a pretty cool piece of film history memorabilia that celebrates an important milestone in the field of feature-length animation. According to The Walt Disney Family Museum, it was supposedly the idea of "It's a Wonderful Life" filmmaker (and then Academy President) Frank Capra. There was another Oscar variant awarded the year before to ventriloquist Edward Bergen in the form of a wooden statue. Like his famed dummy creation, Charlie McCarthy, it could move its mouth.

There's also the matter of the half-sized Academy Juvenile Award, which was presented to young actors under 18 as a sort of consolation prize for being at a disadvantage to the adult nominees. Judy Garland ("The Wizard of Oz"), Mickey Rooney ("Babes in Arms"), and Hayley Mills ("Pollyanna") were among the special group of recipients until the category's shuttering in 1961.

As for the mini Oscars on Disney's accolade, it wouldn't be the last time the animation pioneer would go home with them.

It turns out that when you win an Academy Award, you not only receive the traditionally sized Oscar but can request a 1-inch charm with an engraving on the bottom (via D23). Seeing as how Disney acquired numerous wins under his belt, he had the idea of fashioning 20 charms into a necklace for his wife, Lillian. The ink artist ultimately decided she would rather it be a bracelet instead.

"If I just received the industry award of a lifetime, you bet I'm getting an 18-karat mini Oscar to put on my keychain. But a bracelet sounds nice too."

It's an incredibly sweet gesture, among others, to the woman who ultimately helped Disney coin the name "Mickey Mouse." Both the bracelet and the "Snow White" staircase award are currently housed at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is currently streaming on Disney+.