The original draft of Forrest Gump included an appearance from Curious George.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis, Forrest Gump was released in United States theaters in July 1994. It stars Tom Hanks as the titular character, while the cast also includes Robin Wright as Jenny Curran, Gary Sinise as Lieutenant Dan Taylor, Mykelti Williamson as Benjamin Buford “Bubba” Blue, and Sally Field as Mrs. Gump.
Forrest Gump is an adaptation of the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The screenplay was written by Eric Roth.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Hanks said that Roth’s original draft for Forrest Gump was much different than what ultimately came to fruition.
“I remember that first draft that Eric Roth wrote on Gump, it was like 179 pages — Eric had all sorts of like angels flying up, and dreamscapes,” he said.
What did Robert Zemeckis say about Curious George originally being in Forrest Gump?
Zemeckis then revealed that Curious George — the lovable little monkey created by Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey who first appeared in 1939’s Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys — had an appearance in Roth’s first draft of the script.
“Curious George was a cartoon monkey on Forrest’s shoulder talking to him,” he said.
Zemeckis further recalled how, after reading the script, he made the decision to remove Curious George from the film.
“They said, ‘Get that guy who did [Who Framed] Roger Rabbit,” Zemeckis explained. “And I read the [Forrest Gump] script, and I said, ‘I love this, but that monkey’s gotta go.’”
When asked by Wright if Curious George was removed from the film because of a rights issue, Zemeckis said that was not the case; rather, he simply didn’t want Curious George to be in the movie.
Forrest Gump is currently streaming on Paramount+ and on Fubo.