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 the summer of 1994, Forrest Gump became one of the defining American films of the decade, sweeping the Academy Awards with wins for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Tom Hanks. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, it traced three decades of American history through the eyes of a simple, good hearted man, blending sentiment, technical innovation, and nostalgia into a cultural phenomenon that remains widely quoted and collected today.
This cell centers on Forrest Gump himself, the character whose earnest voice and unlikely presence at the edges of history made the film a touchstone for a generation of moviegoers. As a solo figure, he anchors the story's tone of gentle wonder and endurance. Collectors prize frames built around Forrest because he embodies the film's heart, the everyman who witnessed extraordinary times. A cell like this, drawn from the original 35mm print, offers a physical fragment of that legacy.
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 running along the bottom edge beside the perforations, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern consistent with an analog stereo optical track; a narrow additional stripe suggesting a Dolby SR or similar analog encoded track is also present.
Edge print
Not clearly legible in this capture; text markings appear present along the edge but cannot be quoted with certainty.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight warm-neutral tint; dye image shows natural colour saturation without obvious red shift or fading.
Projection history
Light vertical scratches are 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 and are consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print matching the film on record.
Era check
The dual bilateral variable-area optical soundtrack, warm-neutral safety base, and colour dye characteristics are all consistent with a 1994 theatrical release print of Forrest Gump.
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 000064029
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
