WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Library of Congress has selected "Forrest Gump," "Bambi" and "Silence of the Lambs" to be included among the nation's treasures in the world's largest archive of film, TV and sound recordings.

The films announced Wednesday for the National Film Registry span the years of 1912-1994. They include Hollywood classics, documentaries, animation, home movies and experimental motion pictures.

The oldest reels included this year are silent films both from 1912. "The Cry of the Children" is about the pre-World War I child labor reform movement and "A Cure for Pokeritis" features the industry's earliest comic superstar John Bunny.

The most recent is "Forrest Gump," best known for Tom Hanks' immortal line, "My momma always said, `Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.' "

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Here are the 25 films selected in 2011 by the Library of Congress to be preserved as part of the National Film Registry:

"Allures" (1961)

"Bambi" (1942)

"The Big Heat" (1953)

"A Computer Animated Hand" (1972)

"Crisis: Behind A Presidential Commitment" (1963)

"The Cry of the Children" (1912)

"A Cure for Pokeritis" (1912)

"El Mariachi" (1992)

"Faces" (1968)

"Fake Fruit Factory" (1986)

"Forrest Gump" (1994)

"Growing Up Female" (1971)

"Hester Street" (1975)

"I, an Actress" (1977)

"The Iron Horse" (1924)

"The Kid" (1921)

"The Lost Weekend" (1945)

"The Negro Soldier" (1944)

"Nicholas Brothers Family Home Movies" (1930s-40s)

"Norma Rae" (1979)

"Porgy and Bess" (1959)

"The Silence of the Lambs" (1991)

"Stand and Deliver" (1988)

"Twentieth Century" (1934)

"War of the Worlds" (1953)