| 68th Academy Awards | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date | March 25, 1996 |
| Site | Dorothy Chandler Pavilion,Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Hosted by | Whoopi Goldberg |
| Produced by | David Salzman Quincy Jones |
| Directed by | Jeff Margolis |
| Highlights | |
| Best Picture | Braveheart |
| Most awards | Braveheart (5) |
| Most nominations | Braveheart (10) |
| TV in the United States | |
| Network | ABC |
| Duration | 3 hours, 39 minutes |
| Ratings | 44.81 million 30.48% (Nielsen ratings) |
The68th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the bestfilms of 1995 in the United States and took place on March 25, 1996, at theDorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m.PST / 9:00 p.m.EST.[2] During the ceremony, AMPAS presentedAcademy Awards (commonly referred to asOscars) in 24 categories.[2] The ceremony, televised in the United States byABC, was produced byDavid Salzman andQuincy Jones and directed byJeff Margolis.[2] ActressWhoopi Goldberg hosted the show for the second time, having previously presided over the66th ceremony in 1994.[3] Three weeks earlier, in a ceremony held at theRegent Beverly Wilshire Hotel inBeverly Hills, California, on March 2, theAcademy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by hostRichard Dreyfuss.[4]
Braveheart won five awards, includingBest Picture.[5][6] Other winners includedApollo 13,Pocahontas,Restoration, andThe Usual Suspects with two awards andAnne Frank Remembered,Antonia's Line,Babe,A Close Shave,Dead Man Walking,Leaving Las Vegas,Lieberman in Love,Mighty Aphrodite,One Survivor Remembers,Il Postino: The Postman, andSense and Sensibility with one. The telecast garnered almost 45 million viewers in the United States.
The nominees for the 68th Academy Awards were announced on February 13, 1996, at 5:38 a.m.PST (13:38UTC) at theSamuel Goldwyn Theater by president of the academy, and the music producerQuincy Jones.[7]Braveheart led all nominees with ten nominations;Apollo 13 came in second with nine.[8][9]
The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 25, 1996.[10]Braveheart was the ninth film to win Best Picture with no acting nominations.[11] With her Best Supporting Actress win forMighty Aphrodite, Mira Sorvino became the second consecutive actress to win the aforementioned category for a performance in a film directed byWoody Allen.[12] Best Adapted Screenplay winnerEmma Thompson was the first person to win Oscars for both acting and screenwriting. She had previously won Best Actress for her performance in the 1992 filmHowards End.[13] This was the first year since the42nd Academy Awards—and last to date—that none of the acting winners appeared in Best Picture nominees.
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Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.[14]
The following 19 films received multiple nominations: | The following five films received multiple awards:
|
The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.[18]
| Name(s) | Role |
|---|---|
| Les Marshak | Announcer for the 68th annual Academy Awards |
| Pierce Brosnan Naomi Campbell Claudia Schiffer | Presenters of the award forBest Costume Design |
| Dianne Wiest | Presenter of the award forBest Supporting Actor |
| John Travolta | Presenter of the filmApollo 13 on the Best Picture segment |
| Alicia Silverstone | Presenter of the award forBest Makeup |
| Emma Thompson | Presenter of the award forBest Art Direction |
| Chris O'Donnell | Introducer of the performance of Best Original Song nominee "Moonlight" |
| Robin Williams | Presenter of theHonorary Award toChuck Jones and theSpecial Achievement Award toJohn Lasseter who comes onto the stage with a Sheriff Woody doll and a Buzz Lightyear action figure. As they come to life, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen reprise their respective voice roles. |
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Jackie Chan | Presenters of the awards forBest Live Action Short Film andBest Animated Short Film |
| Sandra Bullock | Presenter of the awardBest Sound Effects Editing |
| Steven Seagal | Presenter of the awardBest Sound |
| Jeremy Irons | Presenter of the filmBraveheart on the Best Picture segment |
| Martin Landau | Presenter of the award forBest Supporting Actress |
| Jim Carrey | Presenter of the award forBest Cinematography |
| Goldie Hawn Kurt Russell | Presenters of the award forBest Film Editing |
| Richard Dreyfuss | Presenter of the segment of theAcademy Awards for Technical Achievement and theGordon E. Sawyer Award |
| Winona Ryder | Introducer of the performance of Best Original Song nominee "Dead Man Walking" |
| Will Smith | Presenter of the award forBest Visual Effects |
| Anjelica Huston | Presenter of the filmSense and Sensibility on the Best Picture segment |
| Nicolas Cage Elisabeth Shue | Presenters of the awards forBest Documentary Short Subject andBest Documentary Feature |
| Nathan Lane | Introducer of the performance of Best Original Song nominee "Colors of the Wind" |
| Mel Gibson | Presenter of the awardBest Foreign Language Film |
| Steven Spielberg | Presenter of theHonorary Award toKirk Douglas |
| Quincy Jones Sharon Stone | Presenters of the awards forBest Original Musical or Comedy Score andBest Original Dramatic Score |
| Liam Neeson | Presenter of the filmIl Postino: The Postman on the Best Picture segment |
| Arthur Hiller (AMPAS President) | Presenter of the "In Memoriam" tribute |
| Jimmy Smits | Introducer of the performance of Best Original Song nominee "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" |
| Susan Sarandon | Presenter of the award forBest Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen |
| Anthony Hopkins | Presenter of the award forBest Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published |
| Christopher Reeve | Presenter of the montage on films that address social issues |
| Angela Bassett Laurence Fishburne | Presenters of the award forBest Original Song |
| Nicole Kidman | Presenter of the filmBabe on the Best Picture segment |
| Robert Zemeckis | Presenter of the awardBest Director |
| Tom Hanks | Presenter of the award forBest Actress |
| Jessica Lange | Presenter of the award forBest Actor |
| Sidney Poitier | Presenter of the award forBest Picture |
| Name(s) | Role | Performed |
|---|---|---|
| Tom Scott | Musical arranger | Orchestral |
| Gloria Estefan | Performer | "Moonlight" fromSabrina |
| Lyle Lovett Randy Newman | Performers | "You've Got a Friend in Me" fromToy Story |
| Stomp | Performers | Best Sound Effects Editing montage |
| Bruce Springsteen | Performer | "Dead Man Walkin'" fromDead Man Walking |
| Savion Glover | Performer | "Singin' in the Rain" tap-dance tribute toGene Kelly |
| Vanessa Williams | Performer | "Colors of the Wind" fromPocahontas |
| Bryan Adams | Performer | "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" fromDon Juan DeMarco |
| Take 6 | Performers | Best Original Song medley |
As a result of the negative reception ofDavid Letterman's stint as host from thepreceding year's ceremony, veteran film and television directorGil Cates declined to helm the upcoming festivities.[19] In November 1995, AMPAS recruited music producer andJean Hersholt Humanitarian Award recipientQuincy Jones as producer of the 1996 ceremony.[20] Jones immediately selected actress and comedianWhoopi Goldberg to host the ceremony.[20] In an interview withLos Angeles Times writer Susan King, Jones explained the decision to hire Goldberg saying, "She has all the qualifications to move on a dime, to carry the elegance and the dignity of the show and is very funny. She understands the street. She has everything."[21]
One segment that was staged during the ceremony was an elaborate fashion show showcasing the nominees forBest Costume Design.[22] Produced by fashion photographerMatthew Rolston, the production featured models such asCameron Alborzian,Tyson Beckford,Tyra Banks,Marcus Schenkenberg andJoel West sporting various costumes from the five films nominated in the category.[23] Initially, actorJack Nicholson was approached to introduce the segment along with modelsNaomi Campbell andClaudia Schiffer. However, actorPierce Brosnan accepted the role of presenter of the segment and award after Nicholson declined those respective duties.[22]
Several other people and elements were also involved with the production of the ceremony. Jeff Margolis served as director for the program.[24] Actress and talk show hostOprah Winfrey interviewed several nominees and other attendees during a seven-minute red carpet arrival segment shown at the beginning of the telecast.[25] Musician and saxophonistTom Scott served as musical director for the ceremony.[26] ChoreographerJamie King supervised the performances of the Best Song nominees and two dance numbers.[27] Babe, the pig from theeponymous film, andMiss Piggy participated in a comedy sketch during the proceedings.[26] ActorChristopher Reeve, who was paralyzed in a horse riding accident nearly a year earlier, made a surprise appearance on the telecast urging filmmakers to make movies that face the world's most important issues head-on.[28]
Several days before the ceremony, activist groupRainbow Coalition, led by ReverendJesse Jackson, planned a protest regardingAfrican Americans and otherracial minorities in the film industry.[29] The group was voicing its objections to unflattering portrayals of minorities in film and television and the fact that minorities were underemployed in the entertainment industry.[29] Jackson further pointed out the disparity in racial minorities in Hollywood by noting that Best Live Action Short Film nomineeDianne Houston was the only African American nominated that year.[30] Although the group initially planned to demonstrate outside theDorothy Chandler Pavilion, an agreement between Jackson and producer Jones caused the protest to be moved adjacent to the broadcast facilities of the localABC affiliateKABC-TV.[31] Nevertheless, Jones remarked that the Academy Awards were not the appropriate venue for such protest declaring "Why should the movie business be different from anything else in America? It's a problem that permeates everything in the country. Every facet of America discriminates."[32]
Beginning with this ceremony, the AMPAS music branch divided the category ofBest Original Score into two categories: Best Dramatic Score and Best Musical or Comedy Score.[33] This was seen as a response to the dominance ofWalt Disney Feature Animation films in the Original Score and Original Song categories in recent years.[34] Four years later, the two scoring categories were merged back into one category.[35]
At the ceremony,Christopher Reeve presented a montage of films which tackled social issues. His appearance was a surprise to the majority of those present and occurred less than a year after the horse-riding accident in which he was paralyzed. Reeve's appearance was kept secret in part so that if any physical issue came about, he could drop out quietly. He attended an early morning closed-door rehearsal, during which he vetoed the idea of usingJohn Williams' 1978Superman Theme as entrance music. Reeve, along with Jones, had chosen the film clips used in the montage.[36] Reeve received a two-minute standing ovation during his appearance.[37]
At the time of the nominations announcement on February 13, the combined gross of the five Best Picture nominees at the US box office was $333 million, with an average of $66.5 million per film.[38]Apollo 13 was the highest earner among the Best Picture nominees with $172 million in domestic box office receipts.[38] The film was followed byBraveheart ($67 million),Babe ($58.2 million),Sense and Sensibility ($24.6 million) and finallyIl Postino: The Postman ($10.7 million).[38]
Of the top 50 grossing movies of the year, 47 nominations went to 14 films on the list. OnlyToy Story (2nd),Apollo 13 (3rd),Braveheart (23rd),Babe (29th),12 Monkeys (31st),Casino (38th) andMr. Holland's Opus (39th) were nominated for directing, acting, screenwriting, or Best Picture.[39] The other box office hits that earned nominations wereBatman Forever (1st),Pocahontas (4th),Seven (9th),Crimson Tide (10th),Waterworld (12th),The Bridges of Madison County (21st),The American President (27th) andSabrina (34th).[39]
The show received a positive reception from most media publications.The New York Times film criticJanet Maslin raved, "Mr. Jones pointedly turned this year's ceremony into a showcase for Hollywood's new guard." She also praised host Goldberg's opening monologue, remarking that it "established the sharpness of this year's gag writing."[40]People columnist Janice Min wrote that "the most egregious crime at the 68th Academy Awards on March 25 was–egad!–the relentless elegance and good taste that deprived viewers of genuine, Grade A snicker fodder.[41] Television criticHoward Rosenberg of theLos Angeles Times applauded Goldberg's performance, noting that her "confident performance [...] was symbolic of her whopping improvement as host over her showing on the1994 Oscars."[42]
Some media outlets were more critical of the show.Chicago Tribune television critic Steve Johnson lamented that Goldberg "settled into bland script reading that made one long for David Letterman's cranky unpredictability in the role last year." He also stated that the "Best Costume Design fashion show" was the silliest opening Oscar production number sinceRob Lowe andSnow Whitesang "Proud Mary" in 1989.[43]Ken Tucker ofEntertainment Weekly bemoaned that the dominance of Best Picture winnerBraveheart and the lack of fashion glamour "had the makings of a tiresome evening."[44]
The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 44.81 million people over its length, which was a 9% decrease from theprevious year's ceremony.[45][46] The show also garnered lowerNielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony, with 30.48% of households watching over a 48.88 share.[47] It also earned a lower 18–49 demographic rating with an 18.76 rating over a 35.27 share among viewers in that demographic.[47]
In July 1996, the ceremony presentation received seven nominations at the48th Primetime Emmys.[48] Two months later, the ceremony won one of those nominations for Greg Brunton's lighting design and direction during the telecast.[49]
The annual "In Memoriam" tribute was presented by Academy PresidentArthur Hiller. The montage featured an excerpt of the main title ofThe Prince of Tides composed byJames Newton Howard.[50]
A separate tribute to actor, dancer and veteran Oscar hostGene Kelly featured tap dancerSavion Glover dancing to the song "Singin' in the Rain" from the 1952film of the same name.[51]
In designing the poster, Schwartzman takes over from his friend and mentor, the late Saul Bass, who created the last five posters [the 63rd, 65th, 66th, 67th, and 68th Academy Awards].
