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. It swept the Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and became a cultural touchstone for its blend of American history, sentiment, and technical innovation in blending Tom Hanks into archival footage. Decades later it remains one of the defining studio films of the nineties, prized by collectors for its rarity in surviving theatrical print form.
This cell brings together Forrest Gump, his mother, and Jenny Curran, the three figures whose bonds anchor the entire story. Forrest and Jenny's relationship is the emotional spine of the film, a lifelong connection defined by devotion and distance. Mrs. Gump represents the guidance that shapes Forrest's worldview from childhood onward. A cell holding all three together captures the foundational relationships of the narrative, making it a meaningful piece for anyone assembling a collection centered on the film's core emotional throughline.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital composite optical 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 look clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, consistent with a mono or stereo optical print; Dolby Digital data blocks appear present in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge, suggesting a Dolby Digital optical composite track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base shows a warm cream-to-amber tint typical of processed acetate or polyester colour print stock; the dye image appears neutral with no obvious 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 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 Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks combined with a variable-area optical track composite is the standard release-print format used from 1992 onward, fully consistent with a 1994 theatrical 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 000064015
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
