National Film RegistryLibrary of Congress · Inducted 2011
“As "Forrest Gump," Tom Hanks portrays an earnest, guileless "everyman" whose open-heartedness and sense of the unexpected unwittingly draws him into some of the most iconic events of the 1960s and 1970s.”
Selected for preservation as culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.
Directed by
Robert Zemeckis
Studio
Paramount Pictures · 142 min
Box office
$678.2M worldwide on a $55M budget
Honors
Academy Awards — 6 wins, 13 nominationsNational Board of Review — 2 winsAmanda Award — 1 winAll 9 wins · 13 nominations on record
Academy Awards: Best Director
Academy Awards: Best Picture
Academy Awards: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
Academy Awards: Best Film Editing
Academy Awards: Best Actor
Academy Awards: Best Visual Effects
National Board of Review: Best Film
National Board of Review: National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Amanda Award: Best Foreign Feature Film
Scholarship
Named in the title of 31 peer-reviewed works
Examples
Forrest Gump — Iverieli (National Parliamentary Library of Georgia), 2015
Forrest Gump, 2022
Forrest Gump: — State University of New York Press eBooks, 2017
Sources: Wikidata · Library of Congress · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Forrest Gump arrived from Paramount Pictures in the summer of 1994, directed by Robert Zemeckis and adapted from Winston Groom's novel. Built on innovative visual effects that placed its protagonist within decades of American history, the film became a cultural touchstone, earning six Academy Awards including Best Picture. Its blend of sentiment, humor, and technical achievement made it one of the defining studio releases of the decade, still discussed and quoted three decades later.
This cell centers on Forrest Gump and Lieutenant Dan Taylor, two figures whose bond forms the emotional backbone of the story. Lieutenant Dan, the war-hardened officer who comes to see Forrest as more than a simple soldier, remains one of the most sought-after characters among collectors for his arc of transformation across the film. A cell pairing him with Forrest captures a piece of that enduring friendship, a relationship built through hardship and loyalty that audiences return to again and again.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Forrest Gump (1994).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern; a blue stripe runs adjacent to it, consistent with a Dolby encoded release print.
Edge print
Not fully legible in this capture; partial characters visible but cannot be quoted with certainty.
Base & colour
Base appears warm-neutral with a slight amber cast; dye image shows no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratches are visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and are consistent with the visual style of the film on record.
Era check
The dual bilateral variable-area optical track with adjacent blue Dolby stripe, warm-neutral base, and colour dye image are all consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print of Forrest Gump (1994).
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000063984
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
