The film was a cultural phenomenon for America that inspired so many things. One of them was the restaurant chain, Bubba Gump. The shrimp restaurant franchise opened in 1996, just a couple of years after the film was released. While there is no connection to the film other than the characters’ names Benjamin Buford “Bubba” Blue and Forrest Gump.
Since opening, the restaurant chain Bubba has grown considerably and has been serving customers across the U.S and around the globe including locations in Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Indonesia, and China.
The Bus Stops Here
The bus stop scene was filmed in Chippewa Square in Savannah, Georgia. Savannah is the oldest city in the state of Georgia. The city was established in 1733 as a British colony, and later as the first state capital of Georgia. The city was also a strategic port city in the American Revolution and during the American Civil War.
While Savanna is rich in history, tourists are drawn to the city more because of the film than anything else. You can even do a Forrest Gump tour of the city. Check out the museums where you will find the actual bench that they used in the film.
Chippewa Square
Understandably, this spot is now a huge tourist attraction in the city is Chippewa Square. Since the release of the film, thousands upon thousands of tourists have flocked to the square in memory of the film. The square has become a huge tourist attraction since the release of the film.
Fun fact: The traffic flow around Chippewa Square was reversed so that the bus door could open into the square. It sure did make for a picturesque scene.
Scripts That Went Un-Used
The producers initially intended to use Groom’s script since he was the one who wrote the book. Unfortunately for him, in the end, it was scrapped, and they went with a version written by an actual screenwriter. And that writer was the incredibly Eric Roth.
Roth, with the help of some additional screenwriters, wrote the final script for which he ended up winning an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Roth later co-wrote screenplays for The Insider, Munich, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
The Famous Hurricane Scene
The boat hurricane scene was taken from the Port Royal S.C Ports Authority. Hurricane Carmen was an actual major Atlantic hurricane that made landfall on the U.S coast of the Gulf of Mexico in early September 1974 In the film, the hurricane destroys the shrimping industry of Bayou La Batre.
Forrest Gump’s boat, Jenny was at sea during the hurricane. While it suffered a blow, it wasn’t thrown to land like other boats and therefore, Forrest’s business started to prosper due to a lack of other competition following the hurricane.