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
Released by Paramount Pictures in 1994, Forrest Gump became one of the defining American films of the decade, sweeping the Academy Awards with Best Picture, Best Director for Robert Zemeckis, and Best Actor for Tom Hanks. Blending sweeping historical pastiche with an earnest character study, it captured audiences with its mix of sentiment, technical innovation, and cultural nostalgia, cementing lines and imagery that remain instantly recognizable three decades later.
This 35mm cell centers on Forrest Gump himself, the guileless Alabama everyman whose journey through decades of American history made him one of cinema's most beloved and merchandised protagonists. Collectors seek him out precisely because his presence alone carries the film's emotional throughline, no supporting cast needed to anchor recognition. A single-character cell like this often comes from a quieter narrative beat, the kind of frame used to represent Forrest's steady, unassuming perspective amid the larger story unfolding around him, a fitting artifact for anyone drawn to the character's enduring simplicity.
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 separate high-density data region consistent with a Dolby Digital pixel block is visible in the perforation-gap area on the same edge.
Edge print
Not fully legible in this capture; a numeral '3' is visible at the lower left corner of the strip.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight warm-neutral tint; dye image shows no obvious colour shift or fading.
Projection history
No splices or cue marks visible; faint longitudinal lines are present across the frames, consistent with projection wear.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be from the same continuous shot, consistent with a release print of Forrest Gump (1994).
Era check
The dual bilateral variable-area optical track combined with a Dolby Digital data block in the perforation gaps is consistent with mid-1990s theatrical release print practice for a major studio feature.
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 000064003
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
