The Big Picture
In 2000, a heist resulted in 55 stolen Oscar statues, causing panic and a rush to remake them before the ceremony.
The majority of the stolen statues were found in a dumpster, but two are still missing.
The incident led to changes in the Academy’s security measures and statue production process, ensuring smoother ceremonies in the future.
As much as we would all like it, not everyone can win an Academy Award. Performers have sought out these prized golden statues for almost an entire century now by putting in work and turning in one iconic performance after another. Why have people busted their butts over these awards? Because they’re (typically) the sign of the best of the best movies. You don’t get better than an Oscar-winning performance or film! There have been times when an Oscar has been awarded to somebody that, by the audience’s consensus, doesn’t deserve it, and probably should have gone to someone else. Don’t forget about the 2017 La La Land and Moonlight fiasco, when the former was accidentally announced to have won Best Picture, only for the latter to walk away with it after things were quickly corrected. Giving out an Oscar is a weighty move.
But what about when someone ends up with one of these Oscar statues, even though they weren’t the one that was awarded it? Okay, now, instead of someone ending up with one of these statues, maybe try 55 instead. As ridiculous as that might sound, this actually happened once. Back in 2000, 55 Oscar statues were stolen from a loading bay dock in an L.A. suburb. What came to follow was a massive commotion in the media, leading to the large majority of statues being found. The whole ordeal ended up being a waste though, as Academy statues are always made a year in advance, so they could have just used the ones that were recently made. There have been many fiascos involving the Oscars, but none as hectic as the 2000s statue heist.
The 72nd Academy Awards Were Set Up To Be a Big Ceremony
The year was 2000. As the 72nd Academy Awards were gearing up, Billy Crystal was once again set to guide audiences through the night as host, and American Beauty was gearing up to win Best Picture. Loads of other great films were up for awards too, though! Of course, The Sixth Sense was a favorite for many, with a decent heap of nominations being thrown its way. The Green Mile was also making some noise, albeit it was slightly snubbed with Frank Darabont being left out of the Best Director category. Don’t forget about Richard Farnsworth being nominated for his performance as Alvin Straight in The Straight Story! This is all without mentioning classics like The Matrix, Tarzan, Boys Don’t Cry, Girl, Interrupted, and more.
55 Oscars Were Stolen a Few Weeks Before the 72nd Academy Awards
Well, just a few weeks before these movies could be celebrated on the Academy’s stage, the unthinkable happened. 55 Oscars somehow managed to get stolen from a loading dock in an L.A. suburb. This meant that every single one of these golden statues had to be remade so that the winners wouldn’t walk away empty-handed on the night of the ceremony. While it might not sound like it takes much work to get some simple statues remade, it’s actually a more complicated process than you might expect. About 20 factory workers worked round the clock to get these statues remade and shipped to the Academy, just in time for the show. Talk about a close call!
After both the huge media frenzy and the process of remaking the statues was seen to completion, 52 of the stolen awards were found in a Food 4 Less dumpster close to Koreatown. Willie Fulgear, the man who found the statues, alerted the LAPD upon discovery and was rewarded $50,000 by the company that transports the statuettes. The Academy even ended up giving him two seats at the ceremony. Meanwhile, the thieves were found and given short prison sentences. Since then, one statue has been recovered (found during a drug bust all the way over in Florida), but the remaining two are yet to be found.
What Happened to the Stolen Oscars?
Image via NPR
About 17 years after this entire ordeal went down, it was revealed that the little golden Oscar statuettes are made a year in advance. So, what actually got stolen was the following year’s statues. Right, for the 73rd Oscars, not the 72nd. Essentially, that information makes the entire ordeal a complete waste of time! They didn’t have to remake all of them, they didn’t have to go into panic mode and search for the stolen statues so that they could be found before the ceremony — none of that! Then, the stolen and found statues ended up being destroyed because the Academy was never going to hand out a stolen statue. Apparently, the Academy always keeps a hefty number of statuettes on hand just in case they’re short on the night of the ceremony. So, while this fiasco sounds like a waste of time right now, they keep this great number of statuettes on hand by keeping both the current and following year’s awards stocked at all times. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t a total waste.
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This ordeal was a real tragedy for the organization and, understandably, changed things greatly for the way they would prep for each year’s awards. Because of the Great Statue Heist of 2000, these awards are now delivered by airplane instead of truck, with the shipments being guarded by armed security. The Academy even cut ties with R.S. Owens, the company that makes the statues after this incident, and switched over to working with the Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry. With this organization, the process of making 50 statues takes three months. Better not lose those statues close to another ceremony — three months is a lot of turnaround time to ask for!
Ever since the Great Statue Heist of 2000, the Academy has had it much easier in terms of conducting a smooth ceremony — for the most part. Let’s hope that it continues to go that way. The 96th Academy Awards are now upon us, so those in charge are likely crossing their fingers hoping that nothing goes down. And look, even if it does, it will only take three months to make all of those statues again. That’s easy enough, right?
The 96th Academy Awards air March 10, 4pm PST / 7pm EST on ABC, and will be available to stream online.
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