Movie Smarts

Run, Forrest, Run: The Forrest Gump Quiz

Life is like a box of chocolates, and so is this quiz. Fifteen questions.

Published 2026-10-22 Updated 2026-10-22 15 questions

Forrest Gump, 1994. 142 minutes, rated PG-13.

Forrest Gump: That Guy Has Been Everywhere

Forrest sits down to tell a few stories, and somehow those stories cover half of American history. He keeps turning up in places nobody would expect, usually without realizing what a big deal it is. Through war, fame, and more than a few strange turns, his heart stays with Jenny, the girl he's loved since childhood. You start out smiling at his luck and end up hoping life will give him a break.

Pull up a spot on the bench. You've got a few questions coming.

1. Who plays Forrest?
- Bill Murray
- John Travolta
- Tom Hanks
- Chevy Chase
Hanks won his second Best Actor Oscar in a row, the year after Philadelphia. He took the part on condition that the script stuck to history as it happened, and he gave up his salary for a share of the profits, which made him a great deal of money.
2. The film is based on a novel by...
- Pat Conroy
- John Irving
- Larry McMurtry
- Winston Groom
Groom's 1986 book is darker and stranger, with Forrest going into space and living with cannibals. He was unhappy with his share of the money and wrote a sequel, Gump and Co., which opens with Forrest warning people never to let anyone make a movie of their life.
3. Who directed it?
- Robert Zemeckis
- Ron Howard
- Barry Levinson
- Rob Reiner
Zemeckis had made the Back to the Future films and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and he brought their trick photography with him. He won the Oscar for Best Director, one of the film's six.
4. According to Forrest's mother, life is like a box of chocolates because...
- It's sweet but it doesn't last
- You never know what you're going to get
- Everyone wants the same piece
- It's better shared
Forrest quotes her on the bench, with the box on his lap. In the novel the comparison is harsher: being an idiot, Forrest says, is no box of chocolates.
5. What floats down through the sky in the opening shot?
- A leaf
- A balloon
- A feather
- A dandelion seed
It drifts over Savannah for more than two minutes before landing at Forrest's muddy shoe, and he tucks it into his book. The shot was made by filming a real feather against a blue screen and steering it by computer.
6. Which sport takes Forrest to China?
- Boxing
- Basketball
- Swimming
- Ping-pong
He picks it up in an army hospital and ends up on the team that visits China in the early 1970s, the real 'ping-pong diplomacy' trip. The ball in the film was added digitally; the actors swung at nothing.
7. What's the name of Forrest's army friend who dreams of shrimp?
- Bubba
- Boo
- Tex
- Jimmy
Benjamin Buford Blue, who knows every way there's to cook shrimp and recites them on a rainy night in Vietnam. Forrest keeps the promise he made him after the war.
8. Which real singer picks up his famous hip-swinging dance from young Forrest?
- Chuck Berry
- Elvis Presley
- Jerry Lee Lewis
- Little Richard
Elvis boards at the Gumps' house as a young man, and the braces give Forrest a way of moving that Elvis borrows. Years later the family sees him do it on television.
9. Gary Sinise plays...
- Forrest's father
- Jenny's husband
- Lieutenant Dan Taylor
- The drill sergeant
Dan loses his legs in Vietnam and his faith in everything along with them, and spends years angry at Forrest for saving his life. Sinise was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and the role led him to decades of work with veterans' charities.
10. How long does Forrest's run across the country last?
- A few months
- Exactly one year
- Ten years
- About three years
Three years, two months, fourteen days and sixteen hours, by his own count. Followers gather behind him, and the slogans he accidentally inspires end up on bumper stickers and T-shirts.
11. What company does Forrest invest in, which he calls 'some kind of fruit company'?
- Apple
- Dole
- Sunkist
- Chiquita
Lieutenant Dan puts their shrimp money into it, and a letter with the apple logo arrives to say they never have to worry about money again. The timeline is off, since Apple didn't sell shares to the public until 1980.
12. Which actress plays Jenny?
- Jodie Foster
- Robin Wright
- Nicole Kidman
- Demi Moore
Wright was best known for The Princess Bride at the time. Jenny's story runs alongside Forrest's through the decades, taking the harder road at every turn.
13. The film places Forrest in real footage beside which of these people?
- Marilyn Monroe
- Frank Sinatra
- John Lennon
- Muhammad Ali
He appears on The Dick Cavett Show next to Lennon, and the conversation hands Lennon the words of 'Imagine'. He also meets three presidents, shows one of them a bullet wound, and reports the Watergate burglars for keeping him awake.
14. What's the name of the shrimp company Forrest founds?
- Gump & Blue Seafood
- Greenbow Shrimp
- Lieutenant Dan's Catch
- Bubba Gump Shrimp
Named for the friend who had the idea, with Lieutenant Dan as first mate. A real restaurant chain with the name opened two years after the film and is still going.
15. Which of these did the film NOT win an Oscar for?
- Best Original Score
- Best Picture
- Best Director
- Best Visual Effects
Alan Silvestri's score was nominated but lost to The Lion King. The film took six awards: Picture, Director, Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Visual Effects and Film Editing, on a night when Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption went home with one and none.

All the answers

1. Who plays Forrest?

Tom Hanks

Hanks won his second Best Actor Oscar in a row, the year after Philadelphia. He took the part on condition that the script stuck to history as it happened, and he gave up his salary for a share of the profits, which made him a great deal of money.
2. The film is based on a novel by...

Winston Groom

Groom's 1986 book is darker and stranger, with Forrest going into space and living with cannibals. He was unhappy with his share of the money and wrote a sequel, Gump and Co., which opens with Forrest warning people never to let anyone make a movie of their life.
3. Who directed it?

Robert Zemeckis

Zemeckis had made the Back to the Future films and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and he brought their trick photography with him. He won the Oscar for Best Director, one of the film's six.
4. According to Forrest's mother, life is like a box of chocolates because...

You never know what you're going to get

Forrest quotes her on the bench, with the box on his lap. In the novel the comparison is harsher: being an idiot, Forrest says, is no box of chocolates.
5. What floats down through the sky in the opening shot?

A feather

It drifts over Savannah for more than two minutes before landing at Forrest's muddy shoe, and he tucks it into his book. The shot was made by filming a real feather against a blue screen and steering it by computer.
6. Which sport takes Forrest to China?

Ping-pong

He picks it up in an army hospital and ends up on the team that visits China in the early 1970s, the real 'ping-pong diplomacy' trip. The ball in the film was added digitally; the actors swung at nothing.
7. What's the name of Forrest's army friend who dreams of shrimp?

Bubba

Benjamin Buford Blue, who knows every way there's to cook shrimp and recites them on a rainy night in Vietnam. Forrest keeps the promise he made him after the war.
8. Which real singer picks up his famous hip-swinging dance from young Forrest?

Elvis Presley

Elvis boards at the Gumps' house as a young man, and the braces give Forrest a way of moving that Elvis borrows. Years later the family sees him do it on television.
9. Gary Sinise plays...

Lieutenant Dan Taylor

Dan loses his legs in Vietnam and his faith in everything along with them, and spends years angry at Forrest for saving his life. Sinise was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and the role led him to decades of work with veterans' charities.
10. How long does Forrest's run across the country last?

About three years

Three years, two months, fourteen days and sixteen hours, by his own count. Followers gather behind him, and the slogans he accidentally inspires end up on bumper stickers and T-shirts.
11. What company does Forrest invest in, which he calls 'some kind of fruit company'?

Apple

Lieutenant Dan puts their shrimp money into it, and a letter with the apple logo arrives to say they never have to worry about money again. The timeline is off, since Apple didn't sell shares to the public until 1980.
12. Which actress plays Jenny?

Robin Wright

Wright was best known for The Princess Bride at the time. Jenny's story runs alongside Forrest's through the decades, taking the harder road at every turn.
13. The film places Forrest in real footage beside which of these people?

John Lennon

He appears on The Dick Cavett Show next to Lennon, and the conversation hands Lennon the words of 'Imagine'. He also meets three presidents, shows one of them a bullet wound, and reports the Watergate burglars for keeping him awake.
14. What's the name of the shrimp company Forrest founds?

Bubba Gump Shrimp

Named for the friend who had the idea, with Lieutenant Dan as first mate. A real restaurant chain with the name opened two years after the film and is still going.
15. Which of these did the film NOT win an Oscar for?

Best Original Score

Alan Silvestri's score was nominated but lost to The Lion King. The film took six awards: Picture, Director, Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Visual Effects and Film Editing, on a night when Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption went home with one and none.