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 in the summer of 1994 from Paramount Pictures, adapting Winston Groom's novel into a sweeping cultural touchstone that swept the Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Robert Zemeckis, and Best Actor for Tom Hanks. Its blend of technical innovation, folk wisdom, and decades-spanning Americana made it one of the defining studio releases of the nineties, a film that still shapes how audiences talk about memory, fate, and endurance on screen.
This cell centers on Forrest Gump and Jenny Curran, the two figures whose intertwined lives anchor the entire story from childhood through adulthood. Jenny represents the restless counterpart to Forrest's steadiness, and any 35mm segment pairing them draws collector interest for capturing the emotional core of the picture rather than its more famous historical set pieces. A film strip like this preserves a physical fragment of that central relationship, valuable to those who want a tangible piece of the bond between these two characters rather than a poster or reproduction.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Forrest Gump (1994).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a two-track variable-area format; Dolby Digital data blocks are visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge, indicating a hybrid optical/Dolby Digital soundtrack strip.
Edge print
Not fully legible in this capture; partial markings are visible along the edges but cannot be quoted with certainty.
Base & colour
The base shows a warm cream-yellow tint typical of acetate safety stock; the dye image appears well-saturated with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light longitudinal scratches are visible running parallel to the film length, consistent with projection or handling; no splices or cue marks are seen.
Picture
Positive colour 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 hybrid variable-area optical plus Dolby Digital inter-perforation data track format was introduced in the early 1990s and is 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 000064002
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
