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 went on to sweep the Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Tom Hanks, and became one of the defining American films of its decade, blending historical pastiche with sentimental storytelling. Its cultural footprint, from catchphrases to soundtrack cues, has kept demand for its memorabilia strong among collectors of nineties studio filmmaking.
This cell centers on the scene involving Mrs. Gump, Forrest, and an Army recruiter, a moment tied to Forrest's enlistment and the pivotal turn toward his military service in Vietnam. Sally Field's portrayal of Mrs. Gump anchors the family's emotional throughline, while Tom Hanks as Forrest represents the character at a formative crossroads. Collectors prize material from this juncture of the story for its narrative weight, marking the transition from Forrest's boyhood into the wider historical events the film reimagines him crossing paths with.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour 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; punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area stripe.
Edge print
Numbers readable along the lower edge read '6 8 3' though the strip orientation means some characters may be mirrored; no manufacturer name or SAFETY FILM text is legible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight warm-neutral tint consistent with colour print stock; dye image shows no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
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 dual bilateral variable-area optical soundtrack and colour print stock are consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print, matching the 1994 release date 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 000064019
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
