The movie character that gave rise to the unforgettable simile between life and a box of chocolates was inspired by the author (it was a novel first) Winston Groom’s childhood friends on the Alabama waterfront. A bit less foul-mouthed than his literary persona, the film’s Forrest Gump still retained the earthy philosophy and down-home witticisms that made the novel so popular — and for which he was named Empire magazine’s 20th greatest movie character of all time

On this day, July 6, in 1994 Forrest Gump came out in theaters, directed by Robert Zemeckis and with Tom Hanks in the lead role.

Both men won an Academy Award for the work, and Zemeckis accepted another one for Best Picture. The film became the top grosser of 1994 as well as a Rorschach test for political groups. The right-leaning magazine National Review listed Forrest Gump in the “Best 100 Conservative Movies” of all time, but producer Steve Tisch’s pointedly disavowed any political  association, saying the film was “about humanity … about respect, tolerance and unconditional love.”