Iron Man, Carrie, The Little Mermaid, And More Added To National Film Registry

Since 1988, the Library of Congress has selected 25 films each year as new additions to the National Film Registry in order to be preserved for their historical, cultural, and aesthetic contributions to American culture. The United States National Film Preservation Board has included a wide selection of movies since its inception that range from classic films to newsreels to music videos to documentaries. There are even student films and home movies included among the collection.

This year, the selections highlight the diversity of filmmakers in America by including at least 15 projects directed or co-directed by filmmakers of color, women, or LGBTQ+ people. For example, home movies from jazz, blues, and swing pioneer Cab Calloway are included in the latest wave of inductees, along with an 1898 documentary about the Mardi Gras Carnival and the 1950 adaptation of "Cyrano de Bergerac," which propelled José Ferrer to become the first Latinx actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor.

But in addition to these landmark works, I have a feeling that the more modern additions will make certain sections of our readership feel pretty old. Among those joining the likes of "Casablanca," "Enter the Dragon," "Grease," "The Muppet Movie," and others now are "The Little Mermaid," "House Party," "Carrie," "Hairspray," "Pariah," and "Iron Man." 

But reader, you're not that old. The films that are recognized and preserved for future generations by the NFR only have to be ten years old in order to be eligible for the ballot, which included 6,865 titles for consideration in 2022. And regardless of how long it's been since the movie's release, each selection is, as Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden puts it in the Library of Congress announcement, "central to American culture by helping tell our national story for more than 125 years."

One of the more recent films of the bunch is Jon Favreau's "Iron Man." Not only did it relaunch the career of Robert Downey Jr. and establish Marvel Studios as the powerhouse production company it is today, this movie following Tony Stark and the amazing things he does in a cave with a box of scraps was the very first entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which endures nearly 20 years later. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige discussed the magnitude of this achievement in a statement:

"'Iron Man' was the very first film Marvel Studios independently produced. It was the first film that we had all of the creative control and oversight on and it was really make or break for the studio. All of our favorite movies are the ones that we watch over and over again and that we grow up with. The notion that here we are, almost 15 years after the release of 'Iron Man,' and to have it join the Film Registry tells us it has stood the test of time and that it is still meaningful to audiences around the world."

Other milestone releases joining the registry and bulking up the entries to 850 this year are "House Party," the 1990 comedy that launched hip-hop music, New Jack Swing culture, and writer/director Reginald Huddling into the mainstream, "The Little Mermaid," which kicked off the Disney Renaissance period of animated musical features, "Super Fly," a Blaxploitation classic by Gordon Parks Jr. with an acclaimed score by Curtis Mayfield, and John Waters' "Hairspray," which championed acceptance in the face of segregation and unrealistic beauty standards.

Finally, Turner Classic Movies will air a special featuring Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Director and President Jacqueline Stewart (who is also the chairperson of the National Film Preservation Board and a regular host on TCM) on December 27, 2022 at 8:00pm EST to celebrate the latest additions to the registry and discuss their significance. To help prepare for that conversation, here's a full list of the films that are being added this year:

"Mardi Gras Carnival" (1898) 

"Cab Calloway Home Movies" (1948-1951) 

"Cyrano de Bergerac" (1950) 

"Charade" (1963)

"Scorpio Rising" (1963) 

"Behind Every Good Man" (1967) 

"Titicut Follies" (1967) 

"Mingus" (1968) 

"Manzanar" (1971) 

"Betty Tells Her Story" (1972) 

"Super Fly" (1972) 

"Attica" (1974) 

"Carrie" (1976) 

"Union Maids" (1976) 

"Word is Out: Stories of Our Lives" (1977) 

"Bush Mama" (1979) 

"The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez" (1982) 

"Itam Hakim, Hopiit" (1984) 

"Hairspray" (1988) 

"The Little Mermaid" (1989) 

"Tongues Untied" (1989) 

"When Harry Met Sally" (1989) 

"House Party" (1990) 

"Iron Man" (2008) 

"Pariah" (2011)