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
FILM NOTES
Forrest Gump arrived from Paramount Pictures in the summer of 1994, directed by Robert Zemeckis and adapted from Winston Groom's novel. Starring Tom Hanks in the title role, the film swept the following year's Academy Awards, winning Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor among its six wins. Its blend of historical pastiche, sentimental storytelling, and technical innovation, particularly its digital effects inserting Hanks into archival footage, made it a defining studio production of the decade and a touchstone of American popular cinema through the 1990s.
This cell preserves Jenny and Forrest together, the film's central relationship and its emotional backbone from childhood through adulthood. Jenny Curran, played by Robin Wright, represents the counterpoint to Forrest's steadiness, and collectors prize material pairing these two figures for what it says about the story's long arc of devotion and separation. A frame naming both characters together points to one of the picture's recurring reunions, moments that anchor the narrative's episodic structure. For enthusiasts of character-driven 35mm keepsakes, this pairing represents the emotional throughline collectors most often seek.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital theatrical release print of Forrest Gump (1994).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three 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 two thin wavy lines consistent with a stereo variable-area format; Dolby Digital data blocks are visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer text or key numbers.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight warm-yellow tint typical of acetate or polyester safety stock; dye image reads as a warm, well-saturated colour positive with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light longitudinal scratches are visible running the length of the strip, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the subject matter is consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print matching the film on record.
Era check
The combination of a stereo variable-area optical track with Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks is consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print, as Dolby Digital on 35mm was introduced in 1992 and was standard for major studio releases by 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 000064042
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
