Academy Award for Best Original Score facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Academy Award for Best Original Score |
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2024 recipient: Daniel Blumberg
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| Presented by | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |
| Country | United States |
| First awarded | February 27, 1935 |
| Currently held by | Daniel Blumberg The Brutalist (2024) |
The Academy Award for Best Original Score is a special prize given out every year by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It celebrates the best original music written for a movie. This music, called a film score, helps tell the story and sets the mood.
To be considered, a movie needs to have a lot of new music. Since 2021, at least 35% of the music in a film must be original. For sequels (movies that follow a previous one) or franchise films, 80% of the music must be new. Before the final nominees are announced, fifteen scores are chosen for a special shortlist.
Contents
History of the Award
The Academy first started giving awards for movie music in 1935. Back then, the award was simply called Best Scoring. It included both new music and music that was already famous.
After a movie called One Hundred Men and a Girl won in 1938 (even though it didn't have a main composer and used old classical music), the Academy decided to add a new award. In 1939, they created the Best Original Score category just for brand new music.
In 1942, the music awards were split into two types: Best Music Score of a Dramatic Picture for serious movies and Best Scoring of a Musical Picture for musicals. This was the first time the awards were separated by movie type. This split mostly continued until 1985.
Changes to Award Names
Over the years, the names of these music awards changed many times. Here are some of the names they used:
- Non-musical scores (for dramas and comedies):
- Best Music Score of a Dramatic Picture (1942)
- Best Original Music Score (1967–1968)
- Best Original Score (1971, 1976–1995, 2000-today)
- Musical scores (for musicals):
- Best Scoring of a Musical Picture (1942–1962)
- Best Scoring of Music—adaptation or treatment (1963–1968)
- Best Original Song Score (1971)
- Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (1996–1999)
In the 1990s, several Disney animated musicals like The Little Mermaid and The Lion King won the Best Original Score award. Some people felt that voters were choosing these movies because of their popular songs, not just the background music.
So, in 1996, the award was split again into Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Original Musical or Comedy Score. However, this change wasn't very popular. People felt that creating music for a comedy wasn't that different from a drama. Because of this, the awards went back to being just Best Original Score in 2000.
More recently, the rules for how much original music a film needs have changed. In 2020, movies needed at least 60% original music. For sequels, it was 80%. But in 2021, these rules were relaxed a bit, and now only 35% original music is needed for most films.
Academy Award for Best Original Musical
The Academy Award for Best Original Musical is a category that was brought back in 2000. This happened after the Best Original Musical or Comedy Score award was stopped. However, this award has not been given out since it was re-established. This is because not enough movies have met the strict rules to qualify.
For a movie to be considered a Best Original Musical, it needs to have at least five new songs. These songs must be written by the same person or team. They also need to be clearly heard and help move the story forward. Just a random group of songs won't count!
Recent Winners and Nominees (2020s)
The Academy Awards are given out for films released in the previous year. So, the "2020" award was for films from 2020, presented in 2021.
| Year | Film | Nominees |
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| 2020/21
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| Soul | Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross & Jon Batiste | |
| Da 5 Bloods | Terence Blanchard | |
| Mank | Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross | |
| Minari | Emile Mosseri | |
| News of the World | James Newton Howard | |
| 2021 (94th) |
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| Dune | Hans Zimmer | |
| Don't Look Up | Nicholas Britell | |
| Encanto | Germaine Franco | |
| Parallel Mothers | Alberto Iglesias | |
| The Power of the Dog | Jonny Greenwood | |
| 2022 (95th) |
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| All Quiet on the Western Front | Hauschka | |
| Babylon | Justin Hurwitz | |
| The Banshees of Inisherin | Carter Burwell | |
| Everything Everywhere All at Once | Son Lux | |
| The Fabelmans | John Williams | |
| 2023 (96th) |
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| Oppenheimer | Ludwig Göransson | |
| American Fiction | Laura Karpman | |
| Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | John Williams | |
| Killers of the Flower Moon | Robbie Robertson (p.n.) | |
| Poor Things | Jerskin Fendrix | |
| 2024 (97th) |
The Brutalist | Daniel Blumberg |
| Conclave | Volker Bertelmann | |
| Emilia Pérez | Clément Ducol and Camille | |
| Wicked | John Powell and Stephen Schwartz | |
| The Wild Robot | Kris Bowers |
Records and Fun Facts
This section looks at some cool facts about the composers who have won or been nominated for these awards.
Most Awards and Nominations
| Category | Name | Superlative | Notes |
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| Most Awards | Alfred Newman | 9 awards | From 41 nominations |
| Most Nominations | John Williams | 49 nominations | Won 5 awards |
| Most Nominations without an Award | Thomas Newman / Alex North | 14 nominations |
Age Records
| Record | Composer | Film | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oldest winner | Ennio Morricone | The Hateful Eight | 87 years, 110 days |
| Oldest nominee | John Williams | Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | 91 years, 349 days |
| Youngest winner | Prince | Purple Rain | 26 years, 291 days |
| Youngest nominee | 26 years, 244 days |
Special Achievements
- Only one composer, Marvin Hamlisch, has won two music Oscars in the same year (1973). He won for The Way We Were (Original Dramatic Score) and The Sting (Best Adaptation Score). He also won Best Song that year, making him the only composer to win three music Oscars in one year!
- Roger Edens is the only composer to win music Oscars three years in a row (1948, 1949, 1950).
- Eight composers have won music Oscars two years in a row, including Alfred Newman, Franz Waxman, and John Williams' frequent collaborator, Alan Menken.
Female Nominees and Winners
As of 2023, only 10 women have been nominated for music score awards. Three of them were nominated for writing lyrics, not the full score.
Four women have won in the scoring categories:
- Rachel Portman won for Emma (1996).
- Anne Dudley won for The Full Monty (1997).
- Hildur Guðnadóttir won for Joker (2019).
- Marilyn Bergman won for lyrics in Yentl (1983).
Hildur Guðnadóttir is the only woman to win the main "Best Original Score" award without any special conditions. Rachel Portman and Anne Dudley won when the award was split into "Musical or Comedy Score."
Electronic Music Winners
Some scores that mostly use electronic music have won this award:
- Midnight Express by Giorgio Moroder (1979)
- Slumdog Millionaire by A. R. Rahman (2009)
- The Social Network by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (2011)
Other electronic-based scores that were nominated include Witness (1986), Rain Man (1989), and Her (2014).
Famous Composers from Outside Film
Many well-known musicians who are famous for other types of music have also been nominated for film scores. These include:
- Classical composers like Aaron Copland and Philip Glass.
- Jazz legends like Duke Ellington and Herbie Hancock.
- Rock and pop artists like The Beatles, Prince, Pete Townshend, Isaac Hayes, and Trent Reznor.
See also
In Spanish: Anexo:Óscar a la mejor banda sonora original para niños
- Academy Award for Best Original Song
- BAFTA Award for Best Film Music
- Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Score
- Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
- Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition
- Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance
- Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
- Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media
- Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
- Saturn Award for Best Music
