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 groundbreaking visual effects that placed its lead into decades of American history, the film became a cultural touchstone, earning six Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor for Tom Hanks. Its blend of sentiment, comedy, and technical innovation made it one of the defining studio releases of the decade, still widely referenced and revisited three decades later.
This cell centers on Forrest Gump himself, the gentle, plainspoken narrator whose journey through twentieth century America gives the film its shape and heart. Collectors seek frames of this character because he is the film's entire emotional anchor, the constant presence around whom every historical moment and relationship revolves. A single 35mm cell isolates one instant from that long, wandering narrative, offering a tangible fragment of a performance built from accumulated small moments rather than any single dramatic peak, a physical remnant of the reel that carried his story to theaters.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm color release print of Forrest Gump (1994).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge; spacing appears even and the punched corners look clean throughout the strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a single bilateral variable-area track.
Edge print
The number '38' is legible along the lower edge; remaining edge text appears mirrored and reads partially as key-number coding, full string not fully legible in this capture.
Base & colour
The clear base shows a warm cream-yellow tint typical of processed color print stock; the dye image appears well-saturated with no visible red shift or fading.
Projection history
Light longitudinal lines consistent with projection are visible across the frame area; no splices or cue marks are seen.
Picture
Positive color image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a release print of Forrest Gump (1994).
Era check
The bilateral variable-area optical track, warm polyester base tint, and color dye saturation are all consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print.
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 000063991
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
