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 became a defining event of nineties American cinema, sweeping the Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor for Tom Hanks, while its blend of historical pastiche, technical innovation, and earnest sentiment made it one of the most quoted and referenced films of its decade. Its box office success and cultural footprint have kept the film in continuous circulation on home video and in retrospectives ever since, cementing its place as a touchstone of studio-era prestige filmmaking.
This cell preserves Jenny Curran, the character whose life runs parallel and often counter to Forrest's across the film's span of decades. Jenny is central to the story's emotional architecture, representing the restless, wounded counterpart to Forrest's steadiness, and collectors seek her frames for that narrative weight. A single-character cell like this one isolates her presence from the rest of the reel, offering a focused artifact of her arc rather than a shared scene, which appeals to those building a study of the film through its individual figures.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm color theatrical release print of Forrest Gump (1994)
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three complete 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 single-track analog optical stripe
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at the resolution and orientation shown
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight warm-neutral tint; dye image shows rich color saturation with no visible fading or red shift
Projection history
A horizontal band of light abrasion or emulsion scuffing is visible across the lower portion of all three frames, consistent with a projected print
Picture
Positive color image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and depict subject matter consistent with a 1990s theatrical release print
Era check
The single variable-area optical soundtrack, color positive stock, and base appearance are all consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print such as Forrest Gump (1994)
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 000064028
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
