[6] Three weeks earlier, in a ceremony held at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on March 7, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Tom Hanks.

[8][9] Other winners included Terminator 2: Judgment Day with four awards, Beauty and the Beast, Bugsy, and JFK with two, and City Slickers, Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment, The Fisher King, In the Shadow of the Stars, Manipulation, Mediterraneo, Session Man, and Thelma & Louise with one.

[21][22] He christened the 1992 ceremony with the theme "Pure Joy of the Movies," explaining that "Motion pictures provide us with laughter, romance, adventure and a deeper understanding of ourselves.

[25] According to Variety columnist Army Archerd, Crystal planned to perform a bungee jump stunt as part of his entrance at the beginning of the ceremony.

[29] In tandem with the theme of the ceremony, Chuck Workman produced a montage highlighting famous movie scenes from past and present.

Only Silence of the Lambs (3rd), Beauty and the Beast (6th), Cape Fear (10th), The Prince of Tides (18th), JFK (21st), Boyz n the Hood (22nd), Thelma and Louise (27th), The Fisher King (30th), and Bugsy (32nd) were nominated for Best Picture, directing, acting, or screenwriting.

The other top 50 box office hits that earned nominations were Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1st), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (2nd), Hook (5th), The Addams Family (7th), Backdraft (12th), and Star Trek VI: the Undiscovery Country (13th).

[31] Several days before the ceremony, LGBT activist groups such as Queer Nation and Out in Film announced plans to stage a protest outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

"[35] Moreover, Academy spokesman Bob Werden reiterated that while security plans would not be as stringent as the previous year, firemen and police officers would be on hand in case of fallout from the protests.

"[36] One man who had purchased tickets to the ceremony yelled statistics regarding AIDS in protest as John Candy was introducing a Best Song performance.

"[38] Columnist Scott Williams of the Associated Press wrote that "Crystal was charming from the moment he was wheeled onstage and strolled into the audience wearing the face mask of the demonic Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs, which was named best picture.

"[39] Ray Richmond from the Orange County Register commented that Crystal "is such a magnificent Oscar host that the job should be his as long as he wants it.