# 76th Academy Awards

The 76th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2003 and took place on February 29, 2004, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Joe Roth and was directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actor Billy Crystal hosted for the eighth time. He first presided over the 62nd ceremony held in 1990 and had last hosted the 72nd ceremony held in 2000. Two weeks earlier in a ceremony at The Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena, California held on February 14, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Jennifer Garner.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won a record-tying eleven awards including Best Director for Peter Jackson and Best Picture. Other winners included Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Mystic River with two awards and The Barbarian Invasions, Chernobyl Heart, Cold Mountain, Finding Nemo, The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara, Harvie Krumpet, Lost in Translation, Monster, and Two Soldiers with one. The telecast garnered nearly 44 million viewers in the United States, making it the most-watched telecast in four years.

## Winners and nominees

The nominees for the 76th Academy Awards were announced on January 27, 2004, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Frank Pierson, president of the Academy, and the actress Sigourney Weaver. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King received the most nominations with eleven; Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World came in second with ten.
The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on February 29, 2004. With eleven awards, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is tied with Ben-Hur and Titanic as the most awarded films in Oscar history. Moreover, its clean sweep of its eleven nominations surpassed Gigi and The Last Emperor's nine awards for the largest sweep for a single film in Oscar history. The film was also the tenth film to win Best Picture without any acting nominations. Best Director nominee Sofia Coppola became the first American woman and third woman overall to be nominated in that category. By virtue of her father, Francis Ford Coppola and her grandfather, Carmine's previous wins, her victory in the Original Screenplay category made her the second third-generation Oscar winner in history. At age thirteen, Best Actress nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes became the youngest nominee in that category until being surpassed by Quvenzhané Wallis, who was nine at the time of her nomination, in 2013. With Sean Penn and Tim Robbins's respective wins in the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories, Mystic River became the fourth film to win both male acting awards.

### Awards

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡).
| Best Picture The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Barrie M. Osborne, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, producers‡ Lost in Translation – Ross Katz and Sofia Coppola, producers Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Samuel Goldwyn Jr., Peter Weir and Duncan Henderson, producers Mystic River – Robert Lorenz, Judie G. Hoyt and Clint Eastwood, producers Seabiscuit – Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Gary Ross, producers | Best Directing Peter Jackson – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King‡ Fernando Meirelles – City of God Sofia Coppola – Lost in Translation Peter Weir – Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Clint Eastwood – Mystic River |
| Best Actor in a Leading Role Sean Penn – Mystic River as Jimmy Markum‡ Johnny Depp – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl as Captain Jack Sparrow Ben Kingsley – House of Sand and Fog as Massoud Amir Behrani Jude Law – Cold Mountain as W. P. Inman Bill Murray – Lost in Translation as Bob Harris | Best Actress in a Leading Role Charlize Theron – Monster as Aileen Wuornos‡ Keisha Castle-Hughes – Whale Rider as Paikea Apirana Diane Keaton – Something's Gotta Give as Erica Barry Samantha Morton – In America as Sarah Sullivan Naomi Watts – 21 Grams as Cristina "Cris" Williams-Peck |
| Best Actor in a Supporting Role Tim Robbins – Mystic River as Dave Boyle‡ Alec Baldwin – The Cooler as Shelley Kaplow Benicio del Toro – 21 Grams as Jack Jordan Djimon Hounsou – In America as Mateo Kuamey Ken Watanabe – The Last Samurai as Lord Moritsugu Katsumoto | Best Actress in a Supporting Role Renée Zellweger – Cold Mountain as Ruby Thewes‡ Shohreh Aghdashloo – House of Sand and Fog as Nadereh Behrani Patricia Clarkson – Pieces of April as Joy Burns Marcia Gay Harden – Mystic River as Celeste Boyle Holly Hunter – Thirteen as Melanie Freeland |
| Best Writing (Original Screenplay) Lost in Translation – Sofia Coppola‡ The Barbarian Invasions - Denys Arcand Dirty Pretty Things – Steven Knight Finding Nemo – Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds In America – Jim Sheridan, Naomi Sheridan and Kirsten Sheridan | Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson based on the book by J. R. R. Tolkien‡ American Splendor – Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini based on the comic book series American Splendor by Harvey Pekar and Our Cancer Year by Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner City of God – Bráulio Mantovani based on the novel Cidade de Deus by Paulo Lins Mystic River – Brian Helgeland based on the novel by Dennis Lehane Seabiscuit – Gary Ross based on the book by Laura Hillenbrand |
| Best Animated Feature Film Finding Nemo – Andrew Stanton‡ Brother Bear – Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker The Triplets of Belleville – Sylvain Chomet | Best Foreign Language Film The Barbarian Invasions (Canada) in French – Denys Arcand‡ Evil (Sweden) in Swedish – Mikael Håfström The Twilight Samurai (Japan) in Japanese – Yoji Yamada Twin Sisters (Netherlands) in Dutch – Ben Sombogaart Želary (Czech Republic) in Czech – Ondřej Trojan |
| Best Documentary (Feature) The Fog of War – Errol Morris and Michael Williams‡ Balseros – Carlos Bosch and Josep Maria Domenech Capturing the Friedmans – Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling My Architect – Nathaniel Kahn and Susan Rose Behr The Weather Underground – Sam Green and Bill Siegel | Best Documentary (Short Subject) Chernobyl Heart – Maryann DeLeo‡ Asylum – Sandy McLeod and Gini Reticker Ferry Tales – Katja Esson |
| Best Short Film (Live Action) Two Soldiers – Aaron Schneider and Andrew J. Sacks‡ Die Rote Jacke (The Red Jacket) – Florian Baxmeyer Most (The Bridge) – Bobby Garabedian and William Zabka Squash – Lionel Bailliu (A) Torzija [(A) Torsion] – Stefan Arsenijević | Best Short Film (Animated) Harvie Krumpet – Adam Elliot‡ Boundin' – Bud Luckey Destino – Dominique Monfery and Roy Edward Disney Gone Nutty – Carlos Saldanha and John C. Donkin Nibbles – Christopher Hinton |
| Best Music (Original Score) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Howard Shore‡ Big Fish – Danny Elfman Cold Mountain – Gabriel Yared Finding Nemo – Thomas Newman House of Sand and Fog – James Horner | Best Music (Original Song) "Into the West" from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Music and Lyrics by Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox‡ "Belleville Rendez-vous" from The Triplets of Belleville – Music by Benoît Charest; Lyrics by Sylvain Chomet "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" from A Mighty Wind – Music and Lyrics by Michael McKean and Annette O'Toole "Scarlet Tide" from Cold Mountain – Music and Lyrics by T Bone Burnett and Elvis Costello "You Will Be My Ain True Love" from Cold Mountain – Music and Lyrics by Sting |
| Best Sound Editing Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Richard King‡ Finding Nemo – Gary Rydstrom and Michael Silvers Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – Christopher Boyes and George Watters II | Best Sound Mixing The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek‡ The Last Samurai – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Jeff Wexler Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Paul Massey, Doug Hemphill and Art Rochester Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – Christopher Boyes, David Parker, David Campbell and Lee Orloff Seabiscuit – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Tod A. Maitland |
| Best Art Direction The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Art Direction: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Alan Lee‡ Girl with a Pearl Earring – Art Direction: Ben Van Os; Set Decoration: Cecile Heideman The Last Samurai – Art Direction: Lilly Kilvert; Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Art Direction: William Sandell; Set Decoration: Robert Gould Seabiscuit – Art Direction: Jeannine Oppewall; Set Decoration: Leslie Pope | Best Cinematography Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Russell Boyd‡ City of God – Cesar Charlone Cold Mountain – John Seale Girl with a Pearl Earring – Eduardo Serra Seabiscuit – John Schwartzman |
| Best Makeup The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Richard Taylor and Peter King‡ Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Edouard Henriques III and Yolanda Toussieng Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – Ve Neill and Martin Samuel | Best Costume Design The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor‡ Girl with a Pearl Earring – Dien van Straalen The Last Samurai – Ngila Dickson Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Wendy Stites Seabiscuit – Judianna Makovsky |
| Best Film Editing The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Jamie Selkirk‡ City of God – Daniel Rezende Cold Mountain – Walter Murch Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Lee Smith Seabiscuit – William Goldenberg | Best Visual Effects The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke‡ Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World – Dan Sudick, Stefen Fangmeier, Nathan McGuinness and Robert Stromberg Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Terry Frazee |

### Honorary Award

* To Blake Edwards in recognition of his writing, directing and producing an extraordinary body of work for the screen.

### Films with multiple nominations and awards

Films with multiple nominations :
| Nominations | Film |
| 11 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
| 10 | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World |
| 7 | Cold Mountain |
| 7 | Seabiscuit |
| 6 | Mystic River |
| 5 | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl |
| 4 | City of God |
| 4 | Finding Nemo |
| 4 | The Last Samurai |
| 4 | Lost in Translation |
| 3 | In America |
| 3 | Girl with a Pearl Earring |
| 3 | House of Sand and Fog |
| 2 | The Barbarian Invasions |
| 2 | The Triplets of Belleville |
| 2 | 21 Grams |
Films with multiple awards :
| Awards | Film |
| 11 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
| 2 | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World |
| 2 | Mystic River |

## Presenters and performers

The following individuals presented awards or performed individual numbers.

### Presenters (in order of appearance)

| Name(s) | Role |
| Andy Geller | Announcer for the 76th annual Academy Awards |
| Sean Connery | Presenter of the opening montage |
| Catherine Zeta-Jones | Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actor |
| Ian McKellen | Presenter of the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King on the Best Picture segment |
| Angelina Jolie | Presenter of the award for Best Art Direction |
| Robin Williams | Presenter of the award for Best Animated Feature Film |
| Renée Zellweger | Presenter of the award for Best Costume Design |
| Nicolas Cage | Presenter of the film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World on the Best Picture segment |
| Chris Cooper | Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actress |
| Tom Hanks | Presenter of the tribute to Bob Hope |
| Ben Stiller Owen Wilson | Presenters of the awards for Best Live Action Short Film and Best Animated Short Film |
| Liv Tyler | Introducer of the performances of Best Original Song nominees "You Will Be My Ain True Love", "The Scarlet Tide" and "Into the West" |
| Jada Pinkett Smith Will Smith | Presenters of the award for Best Visual Effects |
| Jennifer Garner | Presenter of the segment of the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement and the Gordon E. Sawyer Award |
| Jim Carrey | Presenter of the Honorary Academy Award to Blake Edwards |
| Bill Murray | Presenter of the film Lost in Translation on the Best Picture segment |
| Scarlett Johansson | Presenter of the award for Best Makeup |
| Sandra Bullock John Travolta | Presenters of the awards for Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing |
| Julia Roberts | Presenter of the tribute to Katharine Hepburn |
| Oprah Winfrey | Presenter of the film Mystic River on the Best Picture segment |
| John Cusack Diane Lane | Presenters of the award for Best Documentary Short |
| Alec Baldwin Naomi Watts | Presenters of the award for Best Documentary Feature |
| Frank Pierson (AMPAS President) | Presenter of the In Memoriam tribute |
| Phil Collins Sting | Presenters of the award for Best Original Score |
| Pierce Brosnan Julianne Moore | Presenters of the award for Best Film Editing |
| Jamie Lee Curtis | Introducer of the performances of Best Original Song nominees "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" and "Belleville Rendez-vous" |
| Jack Black Will Ferrell | Presenters of the award for Best Original Song |
| Charlize Theron | Presenter of the award for Best Foreign Language Film |
| Jude Law Uma Thurman | Presenters of the award for Best Cinematography |
| Francis Ford Coppola Sofia Coppola | Presenters of the award for Best Adapted Screenplay |
| Tobey Maguire | Presenter of the film Seabiscuit on the Best Picture segment |
| Tim Robbins Susan Sarandon | Presenters of the award for Best Original Screenplay |
| Tom Cruise | Presenter of the award for Best Director |
| Adrien Brody | Presenter of the award for Best Actress |
| Nicole Kidman | Presenter of the award for Best Actor |
| Steven Spielberg | Presenter of the award for Best Picture |

### Performers (in order of appearance)

| Name(s) | Role | Performed |
| Marc Shaiman Harold Wheeler | Musical arrangers | Orchestral |
| Billy Crystal | Performer | Opening number: Mystic River (to the tune of "Ol' Man River" from Show Boat), Lost in Translation (to the tune of "Maria" from West Side Story), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (to the tune of "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music), Seabiscuit (to the tune of "Goldfinger" from Goldfinger) and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (to the tune of "Come Fly with Me" by Frank Sinatra) |
| Alison Krauss Sting | Performers | "You Will Be My Ain True Love" from Cold Mountain |
| Elvis Costello Alison Krauss | Performers | "The Scarlet Tide" from Cold Mountain |
| Annie Lennox | Performer | "Into the West" from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
| Eugene Levy Catherine O'Hara | Performers | "Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" from A Mighty Wind |
| Béatrice Bonifassi Benoît Charest | Performers | "Belleville Rendez-vous" from The Triplets of Belleville |
| Jack Black Will Ferrell | Performers | "Get Off the Stage" song parody during the Best Original Song presentation |

## Ceremony information

In light of the record low viewership from the preceding year's ceremony, the Academy sought to make several changes and hire a new producer for the upcoming show. AMPAS announced that unlike previous years where the ceremony typically was held in either late March or early April, the festivities would be held in late February. AMPAS director of communications John Pavlik explained that the purpose of moving the telecast a month earlier was "to bolster the ceremony's sagging television ratings and protect the Oscar's status as the nation's pre-eminent awards event." Despite several Academy officials denying such reasons, some industry insiders speculated that the earlier Oscar date was also implemented to mitigate the intense campaigning and lobbying during Oscar season put forth by film studios. This marked the first time since the 14th ceremony that the awards were held outside the aforementioned time frame.
In August 2003, the Academy hired film producer Joe Roth to oversee production of the ceremony. The following month, Roth recruited veteran Oscar host Billy Crystal to emcee the awards gala for the eighth time. To stir interest surrounding the awards, Roth produced three trailers promoting the ceremony that each was set to different pop tunes (Madonna's "Hollywood", OutKast's "Hey Ya!", and Pink's "Get the Party Started"). The trailers contained clips of previous ceremonies with slogans such as "Expected the unexpected" and "It's Oscar night" occasionally flashing between scenes. These promotional spots were shown at movie theaters, on several cable channels, and at participating Blockbuster stores. The Academy also granted talk show host Oprah Winfrey unprecedented access to rehearsals and meetings as part of a month-long series on her eponymous talk show covering behind the scenes preparation of the telecast.

### MPAA ban on screeners

In September 2003, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) initially banned distribution of screeners to awards groups, citing fears of piracy. Many independent film studios and prominent film directors objected to this decision charging that this would hurt smaller films for Oscar consideration since they heavily rely on screeners to lure Academy members' attention. The following month, AMPAS and the MPAA reached an agreement in which Academy members would receive the screeners on the condition that they keep them out of reach from people unaffiliated with AMPAS. In December 2003, a federal judge in New York overturned the ban citing that it violated federal antitrust laws.

### Box office performance of nominated films

At the time of the nominations announcement on January 27, the combined gross of the five Best Picture nominees was $638 million with an average of $127 million per film. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was the highest earner among the Best Picture nominees with $338.3 million in domestic box office receipts. The film was followed by Seabiscuit ($120.2 million), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World ($85.3 million), Mystic River ($59.1 million), and finally Lost in Translation ($34.8 million).
Of the top 50 grossing movies of the year, 45 nominations went to 10 films on the list. Only Finding Nemo (1st), The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2nd), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (3rd), Seabiscuit (16th), Something's Gotta Give (21st), The Last Samurai (23rd), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (31st), Brother Bear (32nd) Cold Mountain (37th), and Mystic River (46th) were nominated for Best Picture, Best Animated Feature, or any of the directing, acting, or screenwriting.

### Tape delay implementation

In light of the controversy surrounding the halftime show during Super Bowl XXXVIII, network ABC implemented a five-second tape delay to ensure that profanity and obscenity were not seen or heard. AMPAS president Frank Pierson protested this decision in a written statement, stating, "Even a very brief tape-delay introduces a form of censorship into the broadcast—not direct governmental control, but it means that a network representative is in effect guessing at what a government might tolerate, which can be even worse." In response, producer Joe Roth reiterated that censorship would only be applied to profanity and not political speeches.

### Critical reviews

The show received a mixed reception from media publications. Chicago Tribune television critic Steve Johnson lamented that the show "felt almost numbingly familiar and disappointingly genteel." He also criticized broadcaster ABC's decision to implement the five-second tape delay. Tom Shales of The Washington Post quipped that the ceremony "was about as entertaining as watching Jell-O congeal." He also added that the lack of surprises among the awards contributed to the dull atmosphere of the telecast. Columnist Tim Goodman of San Francisco Chronicle bemoaned, "The 76th annual Academy Awards dragged on without much drama or comedy, sucking the life out of the event even while it was doing justice to the masterpiece that is The Lord of the Rings."
Other media outlets received the broadcast more positively. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly praised Crystal's hosting performance saying that he "has located the perfect middle ground between Steve Martin's adroit silliness and Whoopi Goldberg's unapologetic hamminess." On the show itself, he said that it "managed to do what Hollywood may not have: convince us that this was a great year for the movies." Film critic Andrew Sarris of The New York Observer wrote that the show was "the funniest and least tedious in memory." He also extolled producer Joe Roth by concluding, "As far as this old critic's concerned, Mr. Roth, you did a fine job." USA Today critic Robert Bianco commented that despite the lack of suspense due to the Lord of the Rings sweep of the awards "Crystal was able to lace funny bits throughout the evening." He further lauded the show as "more glamorous and upbeat than last year's war-muted event, and decently paced."

### Ratings and reception

The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 43.56 million people over its length, which was a 26% increase from the previous year's ceremony. An estimated 73.89 million total viewers watched all or part of the awards. The show also earned higher Nielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony with 26.68% of households watching over a 41.84 share. In addition, it garnered a higher 18–49 demo rating with a 15.48 rating over a 38.79 share among viewers in that demographic. It was the highest viewership for an Academy Award telecast since the 72nd ceremony held in 2000.
In July 2004, the ceremony presentation received nine nominations at the 56th Primetime Emmys. Two months later, the ceremony won one of those nominations for Louis J. Horvitz's direction of the telecast.

## "In Memoriam"

The annual "In Memoriam" tribute was presented by Academy President Frank Pierson. The montage featured an excerpt of "The Love of the Princess" from The Thief of Bagdad, composed by Miklós Rózsa (Ben-Hur, Spellbound, Quo Vadis, King of Kings, El Cid).
* Gregory Peck
* Wendy Hiller
* David Hemmings
* Hope Lange
* George Axelrod – Screenwriter
* Charles Bronson
* Michael Jeter
* David Newman – Screenwriter
* Ron O'Neal
* Art Carney
* Elia Kazan – Director
* Leni Riefenstahl – Documentary Filmmaker
* Karen Morley
* Buddy Ebsen
* John Schlesinger – Director
* Stan Brakhage – Experimental Filmmaker
* Ray Stark – Producer
* Andrew J. Kuehn – Movie "Trailer" Innovator
* John Ritter
* Hume Cronyn
* Buddy Hackett
* Michael Kamen – Composer
* John Gregory Dunne – Screenwriter
* Robert Stack
* Alan Bates
* Gregory Hines
* Jack Elam
* Jeanne Crain
* Ann Miller
* Donald O'Connor
A separate tribute to comedian, actor, and veteran Oscar host Bob Hope was presented by Tom Hanks. Later, actress Julia Roberts presented one to actress Katharine Hepburn.