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 then-groundbreaking visual effects that placed its slow-witted, kind-hearted hero inside real historical footage, the film became a cultural touchstone, sweeping the Academy Awards including Best Picture and cementing Tom Hanks and Robin Wright as an era-defining screen pairing. Its blend of Americana, sentiment, and technical innovation made it one of the defining studio releases of the nineties.
This cell centers on Forrest and Jenny, the two figures whose intertwined lives form the emotional backbone of the picture. Jenny represents the restless counterpoint to Forrest's steadfast devotion, and collectors prize frames that hold them together, since their scenes carry the story's central romantic and thematic weight. A cell bearing both names points to one of the picture's connective threads, a quiet through-line rather than a single spectacle. For archivists, this pairing is among the most sought after in the reel, standing as a direct piece of the film's enduring, character-driven legacy.
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; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible below the picture area, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area (two-track) optical stripe with a Dolby noise-reduction waveform pattern consistent with a release print.
Edge print
Edge text reads, mirrored: EASTMAN 25 1+1 — indicating Eastman colour print stock with a key-number sequence.
Base & colour
The base shows a warm amber-gold tint typical of processed Eastman colour print stock; the dye image appears fully saturated with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or significant scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a theatrical release print of the film on record.
Era check
The dual bilateral variable-area optical track, Eastman colour print stock edge coding, and warm base tint are all consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print, matching the 1994 production date of the film on record.
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 000064012
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
