It's hard to believe that Forrest Gump was released 24 years ago. That makes us feel incredibly old.
So, to make us feel a bit better about that (not really), here are some facts about the movie that you maybe didn't know. And if you did, then well done - we're impressed!
1. Tom Hanks wasn't the first choice to play Forrest - that was John Travolta, who turned the role down. Bill Murray was also considered, while Winston Groom, the author of the original book, thought John Goodman would be the perfect actor. Can you imagine how different the film would have been if any of them had got the role?
2. John Travolta wasn't the only person to turn down a role in the film. Ice Cube and Dave Chappelle both passed on the opportunity to play Bubba. The role eventually went to Mykelti Williamson.
3. It wasn't just actors, either. Both Terry Gilliam and Barry Sonnenfeld passed on directing the film before it fell to Robert Zemeckis.
4. Although the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. was invented for the film, it became a real restaurant chain. It currently has 43 locations, including Japan, Mexico, the UK and Indonesia.
5. Much of the inspiration for Forrest's hometown was taken from works by famous American painter Norman Rockwell.
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6. The actress who played Forrest's mother, Sally Field, is just ten years older than Tom Hanks. We're not sure if that says more about him or her.
7. After the success of the film, Winston Groom wrote a sequel novel that was published in 1995. In 2001, Eric Roth, the writer of the first film, turned it into a screenplay, but both Hanks and Zemeckis decided they didn't want to make a follow-up.
8. In the movie, every time Forrest appears in a photograph, his eyes are closed. Same, to be honest.
9. When Forrest first learns to play ping-pong in the infirmary, another soldier tells him the trick is to "keep his eye on the ball." After that, he never blinks when playing the game.
10. Speaking of ping-pong, during the matches, there was no ball - it was added in later with CGI to meet the actors' paddles.
11. Elvis Presley's voice was actually an impersonation by Kurt Russell, who had played the rock'n'roll icon in the 1979 TV movie Elvis. Had us fooled. Uh huh uh huh.
12. One of the most famous lines in the movie - "My name is Forrest Gump. People call me Forrest Gump." - was actually ad-libbed by Hanks.
13. Haley Joel Osment made his name with The Sixth Sense, but his movie debut was actually in Forrest Gump when he was just six years old.
14. Both Tom Hanks and Robert Zemeckis let their kids have mini roles in the film's school bus scene. Emily Hanks is the red-haired girl, while Alexander Zemeckis is the first boy who won't let Forrest sit down.
15. The bench that Forrest sat on wasn't a real bench; it was a movie prop. It now calls the Savannah History Museum home.
16. Tom Hanks didn't actually get paid for being in the film. Instead, he took a percentage of the box office, which got him around $40 million.
Featured Image Credit: ParamountTopics: Film and TV, tom hanks