title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: In America, after the New York opening on New Year's Eve, 1879, Richard D'Oyly Carte launched four companies that covered the United States on tours that lasted through the following summer. Gilbert and Sullivan themselves trained each of the touring companies through January and early February 1880, and each company's first performance – whether it was in Philadelphia, Newark, or Buffalo – was conducted by the composer. In Australia, its first authorised performance was on 19 March 1881 at the Theatre Royal, Sydney, produced by J. C. Williamson. There was still no international copyright law in 1880, and the first "unauthorised" New York production was given by the Boston Ideal Opera Company at Booth's Theatre in September of that year. The opera premiered in a German translation by Richard Genée and Camillo Walzel ("Die Piraten") in Austria at the Theater an der Wien on 1 March 1889, and in Düsseldorf, Germany, on 1 December 1936.


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: The first non-D'Oyly Carte professional production in a country that had been subject to Gilbert's copyright (other than Williamsons' authorised productions) was in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, in September 1961, as the copyright expired. In 1979, the Torbay branch of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society presented a centenary tribute to the world premiere performance of "Pirates" in Paignton, with a production at the Palace Avenue Theatre (situated a few metres from the former Bijou Theatre).


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: New York has seen over forty major revivals since the premiere. One of these, produced and directed by Winthrop Ames in 1926 at the Plymouth Theatre, ran for 128 performances and gained good notices. A brief 1952 Broadway staging starring Martyn Green, earned Lehman Engel a Tony Award as conductor. Repertory companies that have mounted "Pirates" numerous times Off-Broadway and on tour in the US have included the American Savoyards (1953–67), the Light Opera of Manhattan (1968–89) and the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players (1976–present).


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: As discussed below, Joseph Papp's 1980–83 "Pirates" ran for nearly two years each on Broadway and in the West End, boosting the opera's popularity. Professional and amateur productions of the opera continue with frequency. For example, the Chicago Lyric Opera and English National Opera each staged the work in 2004, and in 2007, the New York City Opera and Opera Australia both mounted new productions. In 2013, Scottish Opera produced a British touring production of "The Pirates of Penzance" co-produced by the trustees of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Richard Suart played Major-General Stanley and Nicholas Sharratt played Frederic. A concert of the opera is set to be presented on Broadway in October 2022 by the Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre, directed by Scott Ellis with choreography by Warren Carlyle and starring David Hyde Pierce as the Major General; Rupert Holmes has adapted the libretto with a New Orleans setting.


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: The following table shows the history of the D'Oyly Carte productions in Gilbert's lifetime (excluding tours):


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: The following tables show the casts of the principal original productions and D'Oyly Carte Opera Company touring repertory at various times through to the company's 1982 closure:


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: In 1980, Joseph Papp and the Public Theater of New York City produced a new version of "Pirates", directed by Wilford Leach and choreographed by Graciela Daniele, at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, as a Shakespeare in the Park summer event. Musical direction and arrangements were by William Elliott. The show played for 10 previews and 35 performances. It then transferred to Broadway, opening on 8 January 1981 for a run of 20 previews and 787 regular performances at the Uris and Minskoff Theatres, the longest run for any Gilbert and Sullivan production in history. This take on "Pirates" earned enthusiastic reviews and seven Tony Award nominations, winning three, including the award for Best Revival and for Leach as director. It was also nominated for eight Drama Desk Awards, winning five, including Outstanding Musical and director.


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: Compared with traditional productions of the opera, Papp's "Pirates" featured a more swashbuckling Pirate King and Frederic, and a broader, more musical comedy style of singing and humour. It did not significantly change the libretto, but it used a new orchestration and arrangements that changed some keys, added repeats, lengthened dance music and made other minor changes in the score. The "Matter Patter" trio from "Ruddigore" and "Sorry her lot" from "H.M.S. Pinafore", two other Gilbert and Sullivan operas, were interpolated into the show. The production also restored Gilbert and Sullivan's original New York ending, with a reprise of the Major-General's song in the Act II finale. Linda Ronstadt starred as Mabel, Rex Smith as Frederic, Kevin Kline as the Pirate King, Patricia Routledge as Ruth (replaced by Estelle Parsons for the Broadway transfer), George Rose as the Major-General, and Tony Azito as the Sergeant of Police. Kline won a Tony Award for his performance. Smith won a Theatre World Award, and Kline and Azito won Drama Desk Awards. Notable replacements during the Broadway run included Karla DeVito, Maureen McGovern and Pam Dawber as Mabel; Robby Benson, Patrick Cassidy and Peter Noone as Frederic; Treat Williams, Gary Sandy, James Belushi and Wally Kurth as the Pirate King; David Garrison as the Sergeant; George S. Irving as the Major-General; and Kaye Ballard as Ruth. The Los Angeles cast of the production featured Barry Bostwick as the Pirate King, Jo Anne Worley as Ruth, Clive Revill as the Major-General, Dawber as Mabel, Paxton Whitehead as the Sergeant, Caroline Peyton as Edith and Andy Gibb as Frederic.


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: The production opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, on 26 May 1982, to generally warm reviews, for a run of 601 performances, earning an Olivier Award nomination as Outstanding Musical and another for Curry. Notable among the cast were George Cole and Ronald Fraser as the Major-General; Pamela Stephenson as Mabel; Michael Praed and Peter Noone as Frederic; Tim Curry, Timothy Bentinck, Oliver Tobias and Paul Nicholas as the Pirate King; Chris Langham as the Sergeant of Police; Annie Ross as Ruth; Bonnie Langford as Kate; and Louise Gold as Isabel. The Australian production opened in Melbourne in January 1984, opening the new Victorian Arts Centre, directed by John Feraro. It starred Jon English as the Pirate King, Simon Gallaher as Frederic, June Bronhill as Ruth, David Atkins as the Sergeant of Police and Marina Prior as Mabel. The six-week limited season was followed by an Australian national tour from 1984 to 1986 and another tour with same cast in the mid-1990s. In 1985, Papp's "Pirates" opened the new Queensland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane, setting attendance records that were not surpassed until many years later by "The Phantom of the Opera". Gallaher's Essgee Entertainment version of "Pirates" was inspired by the Papp version. The Papp version also inspired foreign-language productions in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: The Papp production was turned into a film in 1983, with the original Broadway principal cast reprising their roles, except that Angela Lansbury replaced Estelle Parsons as Ruth. The minor roles used British actors miming to their Broadway counterparts. The film has been shown occasionally on television. Another film based loosely on the opera and inspired by the success of the Papp version, "The Pirate Movie", was released during the Broadway run.


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: The Papp production design has been widely imitated in later productions of "Pirates", even where traditional orchestration and the standard score are used. Some modern productions are also influenced by the Disney film franchise "Pirates of the Caribbean", combining aspects of the Papp production with the Disney design concepts. Not all of these revivals have generated the same enthusiasm as Papp's 1980s productions. A 1999 UK touring production received this critique: "No doubt when Papp first staged this show in New York and London it had some quality of cheek or chutzpah or pizzazz or irony or something that accounted for its success. But all that's left now ... is a crass Broadway-style musical arrangement ground out by a seven-piece band, and the worst kind of smutty send-up of a historic piece of art."


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: "The Pirates of Penzance" has been recorded many times, and the critical consensus is that it has fared well on record. The first complete recording of the score was in 1921, under the direction of Rupert D'Oyly Carte, but with established recording singers rather than D'Oyly Carte Opera Company performers. In 1929, "The Gramophone" said of a new set with a mainly D'Oyly Carte cast, "This new recording represents the high-water mark so far as Gilbert and Sullivan opera is concerned. In each of the previous Savoy albums there have been occasional lapses which prevented one from awarding them unqualified praise; but with the "Pirates" it is happily otherwise; from first to last, and in every bar, a simply delightful production." Of later recordings by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, the 1968 recording (with complete dialogue) is highly regarded: The online "Gilbert and Sullivan Discography" says, "This recording is one of the best D'Oyly Carte sets of all time, and certainly the best "Pirates"", and the "Penguin Guide to Opera on Compact Disc" also recommends it. So too does the "Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music", alongside the 1993 Mackerras recording. The opera critic Alan Blyth recommended the D'Oyly Carte recording of 1990: "a performance full of the kind of life that can only come from the experience of stage performances". The online "Discography" site also mentions the 1981 Papp recording as "excellent", despite its inauthentic 1980 re-orchestrations that "changed some of the timbres so as to appeal to a rock-oriented public".


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: Of the available commercial videos, the "Discography" site considers the Brent Walker better than the Papp version. More recent professional productions have been recorded on video by the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival.


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: "Pirates" is one of the most frequently referenced works of Gilbert and Sullivan. The Major-General's Song, in particular, is frequently parodied, pastiched and used in advertising. Parody versions have been used in political commentary as well as entertainment media. Its challenging patter has proved interesting to comedians; notable examples include Tom Lehrer's song "The Elements" and David Hyde Pierce's monologue, as host of "Saturday Night Live". In 2010, comedian Ron Butler released a YouTube pastiche of the song in character as President Obama which, as of September 2021, had garnered more than 1.9 million views.


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: Pastiche examples include the "Animaniacs" version, "I am the very model of a cartoon individual", in the episode "H.M.S. Yakko"; the "Doctor Who" audio "I am the very model of a Gallifreyan buccaneer" in "Doctor Who and the Pirates"; the "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" version in the episode "The Cold Open" (2006), where the cast performs "We'll be the very model of a modern network TV show"; and the "Mass Effect 2" video game version, where the character Mordin Solus sings: "I am the very model of a scientist Salarian".


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: The song is often used in film and on television, unchanged in many instances, as a character's audition piece, or seen in a "school play" scene. Examples include a "VeggieTales" episode entitled "The Wonderful World of Auto-Tainment!"; the "Frasier" episode "Fathers and Sons"; "The Simpsons" episode "Deep Space Homer"; and the "Mad About You" episode "Moody Blues", where Paul directs a charity production of "Penzance" starring his father, Burt, as the Major-General. In "The Muppet Show" (season 3, episode 4) guest host, comedian Gilda Radner, sings the song with a talking carrot (Parodying the pilot/pirate confusion in "Pirates", Radner had requested a talking "parrot", but was misheard). In an episode of "Home Improvement", Al Borland begins to sing the song when tricked into thinking he is in a soundproof booth. In the "Babylon 5" episode "Atonement", Marcus Cole uses the song to drive Dr Stephen Franklin crazy on a long journey to Mars.


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: Examples of the use of the song in advertising include Martyn Green's pastiche of the song listing all of the varieties of Campbell's Soup and a 2011 Geico commercial in which a couple that wants to save money, but still listen to musicals, finds a roommate, dressed as the Major-General, who awkwardly begins the song while dancing on a coffee table. Gimbels department store had a campaign sung to the tune of the Major-General's Song that began, "We are the very model of a modern big department store." George Washington, in the number "Right Hand Man" from the 2015 musical "Hamilton" by Lin-Manuel Miranda, refers to himself with irony as "The model of a modern major general", which he rhymes with "men are all" and "pedestal". Miranda commented: "I always felt like 'mineral' wasn't the best possible rhyme."


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: Other film references to "Pirates" include "Kate & Leopold", where there are multiple references, including a scene where Leopold sings "I Am The Very Model of A Modern Major-General" while accompanying himself on the piano; and in "Pretty Woman", Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) covers a social gaffe by prostitute Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts), who comments that the opera "La traviata" was so good that she almost "peed [her] pants", by saying that she had said that she liked it better than "The Pirates of Penzance"". In Walt Disney's cartoon "" (2004), there is a performance of "Pirates" that becomes the setting for the climactic battle between the Musketeers and Captain Pete. "Pirates" songs sung in the cartoon are "With cat-like tread", "Poor wand'ring one", "Climbing over rocky mountain" and the Major-General's song. "Poor wand'ring one" was used in the movie "An American Tail". The soundtrack of the 1992 film "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" includes "Poor Wand'ring One" and "Oh Dry the Glistening Tear".


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: Television references, in addition to those mentioned above, included the series "The West Wing", where "Pirates" and other Gilbert and Sullivan operas are mentioned in several episodes, especially by Deputy Communications Director, Sam Seaborn, who was recording secretary of his school's Gilbert and Sullivan society. In "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip", a poster from "Pirates" hangs on Matt Albie's office wall. Both TV series were created by Aaron Sorkin. In the pilot episode of the 2008 CTV series "Flashpoint", a police officer and his partner sing the policeman's song. In an "Assy McGee" episode entitled "Pegfinger", Detective Sanchez's wife is a member of a community theatre that performs the opera. In a 1986 episode of the animated television adaptation of "The Wind in the Willows" entitled "A Producer's Lot", several characters put on a production of "Pirates". In a 2005 "Family Guy" episode "Peter's Got Woods", Brian Griffin sings "Sighing Softly", with Peter Griffin's assistance. In a 2012 episode, "Killer Queen", Peter gives a garbled rendition of the Major-General's Song. In the 2009 "Criminal Minds" episode "The Slave of Duty", Hotch quotes "Oh dry the glist'ning tear". In the 1992 episode "The Understudy" of "Clarissa Explains it All", the title character is chosen to understudy Mabel in a school production of "Pirates" and is unprepared when she must go on; a scene from "The Mikado" is also heard.


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: Other notable instances of references to "Pirates" include a "New York Times" article on 29 February 1940, memorialising that Frederic was finally out of his indentures. Six years previously, the arms granted to the municipal borough of Penzance in 1934 contain a pirate dressed in Gilbert's original costuming, and Penzance had a rugby team called the Penzance Pirates, which is now called the Cornish Pirates. In 1980, Isaac Asimov wrote a short story called "The Year of the Action", concerning whether the action of "Pirates" took place on 1 March 1873, or 1 March 1877 (depending on whether Gilbert took into account the fact that 1900 was not a leap year). The plot of Laurie R. King's 2011 novel "Pirate King" centers on a 1924 silent movie adaptation of "The Pirates of Penzance".


title: The Pirates of Penzance

text: The music from the chorus of "With cat-like tread", which begins "Come, friends, who plough the sea," was used in the popular American song, "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here." "With cat-like tread" is also part of the soundtrack, along with other Gilbert and Sullivan songs, in the 1981 film, "Chariots of Fire", and it was pastiched in the "HMS Yakko" episode of "Animaniacs" in a song about surfing a whale. In the case "Pierson v. Ray", which established the doctrine of qualified immunity for police officers, the United States Supreme Court held that "[a] policeman’s lot is not so unhappy that he must choose between being charged with dereliction of duty if he does not arrest when he had probable cause, and being punished with damages if he does." State courts have cited the same song for other purposes: "Where does this extraordinary situation leave the lower... Courts and State Courts in their required effort to apply the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States...? Like the policeman in Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance", their 'lot is not a happy one.'"


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: John Kramer (colloquially known as "The Jigsaw Killer" or simply "Jigsaw") is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the "Saw" franchise. Jigsaw made his debut in the first film of the series, "Saw", and appears in all subsequent sequels, with the exception of "Spiral". He is portrayed by American actor Tobin Bell.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: In the series' narrative, John is a former civil engineer dying from an inoperable frontal lobe tumor that had developed from colon cancer. After a suicide attempt, John found a new appreciation for his life, and dedicated the rest of his life to inspiring the same appreciation in others by testing their will to live. His methods include forcing his subjects through deadly scenarios, which he refers to as "games" or "tests", in which they are forced to inflict pain upon themselves or others in order to escape. These tests are typically symbolic of what Jigsaw perceives as a flaw in each person's moral character or life. He was nicknamed "The Jigsaw Killer" by the media for his practice of cutting the shape of a puzzle piece from the remains of those who fail.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: The character of John Kramer was killed off at the end of "Saw III", but appears in flashbacks in subsequent films.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Jigsaw was introduced in the 2004 film "Saw" through Dr. Lawrence Gordon's recounting of his first killings. Jigsaw is described as a mysterious person who kidnaps people he believes take their lives for granted and subjects them to "tests", usually mechanical devices rigged to maim or kill the subjects if they fail to complete it within a certain time period. Unlike most killers, Jigsaw never intends to kill his subjects; the purpose of his traps is to see if the subject has the will to live, as he hopes their experience will teach them the value of life, although he sometimes places his victims in situations where they themselves must kill others in order to follow the terms that he sets. As his victims increase, the media dubs him "The Jigsaw Killer", or simply "Jigsaw", because of the puzzle piece shape that he cuts out of the remains of unsuccessful subjects, which he explains in "Saw II" is meant to symbolize that the subject "was missing a vital piece of the human puzzle: the survival instinct".


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Throughout the first film, his identity remains uncertain; the unstable ex-cop David Tapp suspects that he may be Lawrence and near the end of the film, Lawrence and Adam Stanheight are led to believe it is the hospital orderly Zep Hindle. Only at the end of the film is it revealed that the Jigsaw Killer is a terminal cancer patient of Lawrence's named John Kramer, who spent the entire time posing as a corpse on the floor of the bathroom Adam and Lawrence were trapped in.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Much of John's backstory was revealed in "Saw II". He had gone in for a routine medical examination when he learned from Lawrence that he was dying of colon cancer with an inoperable brain tumor. Depressed by this news, John drove himself off a cliff. He survived the suicide attempt, and subsequently began his life's "work" of testing others' will to live. Though he never encouraged the name, John eventually earned the nickname "The Jigsaw Killer". In spite of the intentions he had while conducting his work, he did not consider himself to be a "killer" or "murderer" because rather than killing his victims outright, he trapped them in situations from which they could escape by inflicting severe physical torture upon themselves or by killing other victims. Despite the immense brutality of his games, John took no pleasure in the suffering of his victims, but thought that it was necessary to remind them to be grateful for the gift of life. Nonetheless, he occasionally tended to confront his victims with their sins in a mocking way. He always tried to keep an emotional distance between himself and his test subjects during his games, so his personal feelings wouldn't get in the way of his work.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: In "Saw II", John leaves a clue to his location at the scene of a game. When the police apprehend him, John places Detective Eric Matthews in a test of his own, revealing Eric's son Daniel is trapped in a house filled with a deadly nerve gas, along with several people who, although far from innocent, had previously been framed by Eric for crimes they did not commit. John offers Eric to let his son survive if the detective simply talks to him for two hours until the game is complete. Eric eventually loses patience, and after assaulting John, he forces him to lead him to the house at gunpoint. It is later revealed that the events in the house took place before they found John, and his son was locked in a safe the whole time. Upon their arrival, John is rescued by Amanda Young (previously introduced in "Saw") who, having survived her trap, sees John not only as a savior, but as a mentor and father figure.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: By "Saw III", John is on his death bed and extremely concerned over whether or not Amanda has what it takes to continue his legacy, as the traps she designs are inescapable. In his desperation, John administers a final test to her, in order to see if she was truly capable of carrying on his legacy. Meanwhile, Dr. Lynn Denlon is forced to keep John alive, while her vengeful husband, Jeff, undergoes tests of forgiveness. John attempts to keep Amanda from failing her test, however, after breaking down, she admits that she no longer believes in John's philosophy, and shoots Lynn. Witnessing this, Jeff kills Amanda by shooting her in the neck. After John explains to Jeff that this is his final test of forgiveness, Jeff slices John's throat with a power saw. As he dies, John pulls out a tape player revealing that Jeff failed his test by killing him, as he also abducted Jeff and Lynn's daughter, Corbett, and was the only person who knew about her whereabouts; Jeff would have to play another game to find her before she runs out of air.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: "Saw IV" opens with John's autopsy, during which a wax-coated tape is found in his stomach. The tape revealed to Detective Mark Hoffman that he would not go untested. The end of the film reveals that Hoffman is in fact another one of John's accomplices.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: "Saw IV" also explored John's history, more so than previously done in "Saw II". From the story given in "Saw IV", John was a successful civil engineer who got into property development, and was a devoted husband to his wife Jill Tuck who ran a recovery clinic for drug users, with the motto "Cherish Your Life". After the reckless actions of a patient named Cecil Adams resulted in the loss of John's unborn child, John became detached and angry, which eventually led to their divorce. After being diagnosed with cancer and attempting suicide, as seen in "Saw II", John began his work, and abducted Cecil as his first test subject, while wearing the first version of his iconic pig mask.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: John reappears in flashbacks in "Saw V" which detail his first encounter with Hoffman, and explores their relationship; Hoffman initially killed his sister's murderer with an inescapable trap mimicking John's. Furious, John blackmailed Hoffman into becoming his apprentice as a way of redemption, although Hoffman eventually became a willing apprentice. John also appears in a video will in which he declares his love for Jill, and leaves her a mysterious box.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: John also appears through flashbacks in "Saw VI". One flashback set prior to the events of the first film shows that it was Amanda who convinced Cecil to steal drugs from Jill's clinic, inadvertently causing her miscarriage, and John's transformation into the Jigsaw Killer. More flashbacks set prior to the events of the first film reveal that John targeted health insurance executive William Easton for one of his games, because he had denied two-thirds of all applicants' health coverage due to a flawed policy, including John himself. In the present time of "Saw VI", John shows himself on video twice to William instead of the Billy puppet (the method John usually used to speak to his subjects), so William could look in the eyes of someone he let die, as he underwent tests in which he was forced to decide which of his co-workers would live or die. In another flashback, this time set between the events of the first and second films, John presents Amanda to Jill as proof that his "rehabilitation" works. A flashback set just before the events of the third and fourth films explores the group dynamic between John, Amanda, and Hoffman. John criticizes Hoffman for his brutal approach, and lack of compassion for the subjects. It was also shown that John seemed to have had a closer emotional attachment to Amanda than Hoffman. Shortly afterward, John gave his ex-wife a key, which she later used to open the box he gave her in "Saw V". In the present, it is revealed that the box contained six envelopes containing future test subjects, a thicker envelope, and an updated version of the "reverse bear trap". She gave Hoffman envelopes 1 to 5, but hid everything else and later delivered the thick envelope to an unknown person at the hospital. Envelope 6 was intended for Jill to carry out alone, and as per John's instructions she placed Hoffman in the "reverse bear trap"; fulfilling the promise made via the audio tape discovered in John's stomach during his autopsy in "Saw IV" that Hoffman would not go untested.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Tobin Bell reprises his role as John in "Saw 3D". He is seen in a flashback meeting Bobby Dagen, a man who acquired quick fame and fortune after falsifying a story about surviving a Jigsaw trap, at a book signing. When Bobby signs John's copy of the book, John claims to have a passion for history, and tells Bobby that in Ancient Egypt, any person found to have lied under oath would be subject to a period of enslavement, thus implying that he knows that Bobby is lying. Bobby does not deduce that John is the Jigsaw Killer, but John hints towards this by removing the book's dust jacket, declaring that he does not need the picture of Bobby on the cover, and sarcastically telling Bobby "We've met". Hoffman later makes Bobby go through a series of tests (including re-enacting the very test that he falsely claimed to have survived) in which he comes face-to-face with those who knew he lied (except his wife), but refused to expose his secret; all are killed in separate traps despite his efforts to save them. John appears at the end of the film, where it is revealed that after Lawrence escaped the bathroom, John found him unconscious, and nursed him back to health. John subsequently recruited Lawrence, considering him to be his greatest asset. He assisted John in many of his traps since then. The contents of the package Jill left at the hospital in "Saw VI" was shown to be a video tape intended for Lawrence, in which John instructs him to watch over Jill, and to act on John's behalf if anything was to happen to her. It is implied that John knew Hoffman would go rogue and stray from his ideals and wanted him to be punished. After Jill is killed by Hoffman, Lawrence fulfills his request by assaulting Hoffman and sealing him in the bathroom from the first film.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: In "Jigsaw", recordings of John's voice are heard as descriptions of the tests that five victims must face in an abandoned barn. He appears in person during the final test, confronting its two participants with the truth of their past misdeeds. After loading a double-barreled shotgun with one shell that he describes as "your key to freedom", he leaves the room. It is later revealed that this test took place ten years ago, and that John chose one of the five victims to become his first apprentice; the victim was Logan Nelson, the doctor who accidentally misdiagnosed John's cancer until it was too late to be treated, but when he missed a chance to escape the first trap because he was unconscious, John decided that he did not deserve to die because of an "honest mistake", and recruited him to be his apprentice.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: John is mentioned several times in "Spiral" and appears in photographs. His legacy as the notorious Jigsaw Killer inspires the emergence of a new copycat killer who adopts John's "pig" motif to target corrupt police officers. This is the only film in the series in which Bell did not participate.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: The character of John Kramer is also featured in the non-canon comic book "Saw: Rebirth", which is set prior to the events of the first film. It filled in some of his history, showing him as a toy designer at Standard Engineering Ltd. who was too lazy to do much with his life, ultimately ending his relationship with Jill. "Saw: Rebirth" also reveals John's discovery that he had terminal cancer and outlined how his subsequent suicide attempt impacted his train of thought. His relationships with Dr. Lawrence Gordon, Zep Hindle, Paul Leahy, Amanda Young, and Mark Wilson were explored, along with his transformation into Jigsaw. "Rebirth" continuity was ultimately contradicted by the backstory presented in "Saw IV".


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Tobin Bell reprises his role as the voice of Jigsaw in the "Saw" video game. He is shown on television screens dressed in his signature robes setting up traps for people and preaching his lesson of life appreciation to them. He frequently advises and taunts Detective Tapp as he traverses through an abandoned insane asylum, usually by way of the Billy puppet. In the game's "Freedom" ending, Tapp escapes from the asylum, but cannot overcome his obsession with Jigsaw and later commits suicide; the game's sequel confirms that this ending is canon.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Tobin Bell reprised his role as the voice of the Jigsaw Killer in the "Saw: The Video Game" sequel "". Tobin Bell also sold his likeness for John Kramer, who actually appears in the game.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: John tests Detective Tapp's estranged son Michael, who is wanting to get to the bottom of his father's death. Jigsaw personally taunts Michael throughout the game, always being out of reach. Via case files, it is also revealed that he built nearly half of the city (explaining his numerous hideouts in the series). He appears to seek the destruction of the drug cartel run by corrupt cops. In the ending, he faces either Michael (tempting him into becoming another apprentice) or Campbell Iman (offering him freedom but forced to lure him into a lethal trap when he tries to attack him).


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: The producers of the "Saw" films have fought to differentiate the Jigsaw Killer from other horror film killers. Darren Lynn Bousman, the director of "Saw II", "Saw III", and "Saw IV", has stated on the character's role "He's not Jason or Freddy. He's not even Hannibal Lecter. He's a person with extreme beliefs and he really thinks he's making a difference. He's a vigilante if anything. He thinks he's making a difference." Tobin Bell, the actor who plays Jigsaw, describes his character's role as being more of a scientist or engineer and "he thinks very specifically and very pragmatically". About Jigsaw's games being detail-oriented, Bell said: "My sense is that Jigsaw is so detail oriented that I think he thinks in terms of worst case scenario. I think he's a very good judge of character, so his sense that, for example, that Detective Matthews was going to play right into his trap, which he did, was right on. Now, it seems to me that he's always got a second plan in place. And there's probably been a number of second plans. I mean, we've only seen three movies. Maybe there are six more somewhere where he failed, where something didn't play out". Speaking about playing the character, Bell stated that "[y]ou have to think of someone like Jigsaw from a very specific point of view. He doesn't view himself as some kind of diabolical psychotic. You know there's a little bit of evil in everyone. It just gets carried further. Most of us have some sort of moral fiber that restricts that. Some framework. And then others because of their lives and what happens to them, the thing develops in some other way."


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Bousman mentioned that "Saw III" was intended to contain a scene in which Jigsaw showed remorse for his actions after seeing the results of his legacy:


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: For the first time, we actually see him break down and cry. Imagine your entire life's work. You're on your deathbed. You know there's nothing else you can do and here's how you'll be remembered: as a killer, as a murderer. Not as someone who helped people. Not as someone who changed lives. Someone who took away lives. The one thing he didn't want to be and, as he's on his deathbed, he's realizing this.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: As a result of his cancer and suicide attempt, John decided to dedicate the rest of his life to teaching people to appreciate their own lives. The producers of "Saw III" and director Bousman see Jigsaw, not as a serial killer, but a "scientist" who is determined to initiate the survival instinct in his "subjects", believing that humanity no longer uses its instinct of survival.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: While the character's discovery that he has cancer is acknowledged to be the "final straw" that drove him to his actions, Bell has stated in an interview that "His terminal cancer is one of the elements of his life but he's as angry over the fact the world is going to hell in handbasket because it's no longer the survival of the fittest; it's the survival of the mediocre. That drives him as much as anything else. He doesn't just talk about his frustrations, he does something about them, and he puts himself on the line. His cancer was about one element in about 130 elements that caused him to create the world that he's created."


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: John is depicted in the "Saw" films as being extremely cunning and intelligent. In "Saw: Rebirth", he is depicted doing extensive study in multiple fields to gain knowledge for designing his tests, and recurring director Bousman himself has described Jigsaw as being "extremely educated" in an interview.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: In the series, John usually builds deadly traps for his subjects, which are often a symbolic representation of what he perceives as a flaw in the person's life. John calls these tests "games", and tells the person the "rules" of the game, usually by microcasette or video tape. The rules are tasks that the person must perform in order to pass the test and survive; however, the tasks often involve extreme self-mutilation (although there have been occasions where it is possible for the subject not to harm themself if they are bright enough, such as the "razor box trap" in "Saw II"). Most of the traps are made of scavenged materials, rusty bolts, decaying iron, or anything else he thinks will help him create a new "game". However, not all of the traps require self-mutilation, as one trap actually required a man (Jeff Denlon) to burn his deceased son's possessions to retrieve the key to save the second victim (which was psychological torture and therefore forced him to burn the memory of his son to save the victim).


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Many of the games involve clocks, counting down timers or other measured time constraints provided to the victims. John elaborated in "Saw II" his appreciation of "time", outlining the importance of savoring every moment. He also stated his belief that telling someone the time in which they may die would awaken an alertness for every moment of existence.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Jake Huntley wrote of the complexity of Jigsaw's character in the "Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies". Huntley described the intention behind John's actions, and evaluated the extent to which they can be analyzed to fit into the philosophies associated with Deleuze, Darwin, and Nietzsche:


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: The subject of one of Jigsaw's games is therefore always presented with an opportunity, the aim of which is to reinvigorate the potential of the subject, jump-start the survival instinct and instill a celebration or "savoring" of life. In Deleuzian terms, it is the potential of life that is at stake... It is this that gives Jigsaw's games their Deleuzian tone, the urgent revitalisation of life occasioning new experiences to be learnt and assimilated: such as the perverse, singular and aberrant situation of waking to find a man-trap secured around your neck. There is then the instruction to live or die, to make your choice, to survive the encounter with affect, or the affection-image... There is no thrill, sadistic or otherwise, in setting these games; they are throws of the die by the subjects, aleatoric opportunities... As Jigsaw makes clear to Detective Matthews during their conversation in "Saw II", where Jigsaw's motivation and philosophy are most comprehensively explored, "I've never murdered anyone in my life. The decisions are up to them." Whilst it probably wouldn't stand up in court, he is at least correct in his usual, carefully literal sense. The decisions, the choices, the selection of a potential, are in the hands of the subjects of his games and he only intervenes in order to keep the game within its rules so a decision can be reached. The subjects are faced with a shocking choice that forces them to acknowledge what Deleuze identifies as the virtual – that is, the unacknowledged aspects of our experience with reality.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: This, in effect, is the particular game that Jigsaw himself plays; one where the organism might be failing but the flow of desire succeeds and endures. Jigsaw might resort to discussing Darwin's "little trip to the Galapagos Islands" to provide a theoretical underpinning for his project and echo Nietzsche in talking of the will to survive, but this merely misdirects investigators and witnesses in the same way that the gruesome traps and freely flowing gore earn him his unsettling serial killer soubriquet. Jigsaw's games are designed to crack open the world of their respective players: the challenges are nearly always relevant to the subject's lifestyle in a symbolic or literal way, bringing them to painful self awareness, prompting a reappraisal of their squandered potential.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: John intends through these traps to force his victims to prove to him that they are "worthy" and "deserving" to continue living, and also for them to learn to abandon what he perceives to be their vices. He often expressed a desire for his victims to succeed, but stressed that their fate was always in their own hands. The video and audio tape instructions for his games often echo this idea: "Live or die. Make your choice."


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Billy, a puppet, is an icon of the Jigsaw character. John often used it for the purpose of delivering messages to his victims via a television screen, but at times it has also been physically present with the victims during their tests. He provided the (disguised) voice for Billy when it delivered its messages. It is shown in "Saw IV" that the original puppet was created by John as an intended toy for his unborn son Gideon, who died while Cecil Adams was robbing the clinic; Cecil accidentally pushed the door into Jill, which resulted in Gideon's death. John is shown constructing a more sinister Billy puppet in "Saw III" for the purpose of its inclusion in his "games".


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Another of John's trademarks is his use of microcassettes to deliver instructions to his victims, disguising his voice as on the Billy videotapes. A flashback in "Saw IV" reveals that he accomplished this by speaking into a reel-to-reel tape recorder, then slowing down the playback. Often, a victim would find a microcassette recorder left for him or her with a tape already loaded in, while at other times the tape would be found separately in an envelope marked with the victim's name or the tape on its own reading "Play Me". One tape was found in John's stomach during his autopsy at the beginning of "Saw IV", coated in wax to protect it against his digestive acids. Both of his apprentices, Amanda Young and Mark Hoffman, eventually began making their own microcassettes, but not always altering their voices as he did. In "Saw 3D", Hoffman recorded one set of instructions on a standard-sized cassette, and another on an 8-track tape for use in a car stereo.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Huntley remarked that John's voice recordings operated for a specific purpose as part of his M.O. Huntley stated that it allowed John to be present there not as "a participant or even a spectator but instead as a referee, observing the rules pertinent to that particular subject rather than salaciously enjoying the 'victim's agony'."


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: The pig mask is a thematic prop worn by John and his accomplices throughout the "Saw" film series to conceal their identities while abducting their "test subjects". As the series continues, the purpose of the pig mask is explored in detail; it is explained to be a tribute to the "Year of the Pig", the year in which John started his work.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: The origin of the pig mask was shown in "Saw IV", revealing the first known pig masks to have been latex strap-on masks used at a "Year of the Pig" Chinese New Year festival. John had snatched them and donned one, while using the other one to hold his chloroform-soaked rag. The second mask was then used to knock out his first test subject, Cecil, by placing the mask over his head with the chloroform rag still inside.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: When working on the original "Saw" film, writer Leigh Whannell and director James Wan wanted their antagonist to have some sort of mask. After some discussion, the idea of Jigsaw wearing a rotting pig's head was chosen to symbolize his pessimistic view of the world and the disease that he was "rotting" from.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Nevertheless, the mask given to them from production (a rubber Halloween mask) was considered by them to be less than satisfactory. A number of things were added to make it look more gruesome, including long black hair and pus running from its eyes and nostrils. Whannell has still admitted to being disappointed with its final appearance compared to his intended one, but has admitted that the mask has since become one of the "staples" of the "Saw" franchise.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Along with Billy and perhaps John himself, the mask has since become one of the more iconic symbols of the franchise. It has appeared on both the posters for the first film and the fourth. The mask has also been featured on many forms of merchandise. Officially licensed pig mask accessories have been sold for Halloween. In addition, the mask has been featured on numerous Jigsaw action figures. NECA has released two Jigsaw figurines with the pig mask; the original was John wearing the mask in his black cloak, and a "Saw III" variant of John wearing it in his red cloak. In addition, the Be@rBrick line has released a "bear" version of John wearing the pig mask. Medicom has also released a figurine of John wearing his infamous pig mask in the "Real Action Hero" line.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: On the commentary track of "Saw IV", several discussions occur about John's decision to use references to pigs. In the series, the producers explained that John was a spiritual person; however, it has never been revealed what religion he follows. In "Saw IV", John's ex-wife Jill explains his organized and planned lifestyle, stating that she had conceived their miscarried son Gideon, with John planning for him to be born in the Year of the Pig. On the commentary track, the producers explain that in the Chinese zodiac, the Pig stands for fertility and rebirth. John is seen several times throughout the series with figurines of clay soldiers and buddhas, further symbolizing his reverence to various Asian cultures.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Cut-outs were made, in the shape of jigsaw puzzle pieces, from the flesh of John's deceased victims who failed to pass their test. John received the nickname "Jigsaw" from the police and the press stemming from his tendency to perform such a ritual; however, he never encouraged that name and didn't actually like to be called "Jigsaw".


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Huntley argued that the jigsaw pieces that John cut out of the flesh of his failed test subjects was not intended as a mere stylized signature, but rather that it had a much deeper philosophical reflection. He stated that:


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Far from being a stamp of final approval, a post-(mortem)-script to the game, the jigsaw piece represents the admission of the subject's missing survival instinct, the corporeal body's non-relational or "snagged" desire. Those marked with jigsaw pieces are the ones that got away, left inert, reduced to the zero intensity of death. It would seem strange that Jigsaw – surely the last figure ever to be deemed sentimental – should choose to extract this symbolic jigsaw piece from these subjects, except that Jigsaw is linguistically consistent in explaining how he 'takes' or "cuts" the piece of skin. The jigsaw shape marking those who "fail" is the adding of a subtraction – in effect, the removal of their inability, their unfulfilled potential or their lack – the excision that leaves the whole of the body that is not the closed, inert corporeal body but is, instead, the "body-without-organs", that is, the nexus point where energy pools amid the flow and fold of forces and durations, existence beyond the living organism.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: A hand-drawn jigsaw puzzle piece was also present on the back of a photograph in "Saw" as part of a clue for one of his games.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Throughout the "Saw" series, John developed a tendency to recruit "apprentices" to carry on his perceived mission. Amanda Young, Detective Mark Hoffman, and two masked men named Pighead ("Saw: The Video Game") and Pighead II ("Saw II: Flesh & Blood") are the only known Jigsaw apprentices. Dr. Lawrence Gordon, Dr. Logan Nelson, and Jill Tuck are also assistants in certain games.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Huntley analyzed Jigsaw's intentions in taking in protégés as stemming from the terminally ill character's desire to overcome death itself, and argues that this is further evidence of his thought process being characterized by Deleuzian philosophy. Huntley argued:


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Jigsaw decides that the answer is to achieve immortality through a legacy, having a successor to continue with his work. The impulse is Deleuzian. Jigsaw remains calm, neutral and impassive throughout the "Saw" films (not least because of his terminal condition) yet his only expressed wish, concern or desire, is that his legacy is maintained – the work of testing the fabric of humanity should go on. "Jigsaw" – as the intensive site of being, a locus of desire, the body-without-organs – can survive the death of the organism John Kramer... What seems to be consistent thematically through the Saw films is that "Jigsaw" is a part for various players, an identity composed of pieces...


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: John was also assisted by Obi Tate in the kidnapping of the victims of the nerve gas house, shortly before the events of "Saw II", and Zep Hindle throughout the first film. Brad and Ryan worked for Lawrence and acted as his muscle, recruited after their trap. They helped Lawrence to abduct Hoffman and they chained him in the bathroom.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Kevin Greutert, the editor of "Saw", "Saw II", " Saw III", "Saw IV", and "Saw V", and the director of "Saw VI" and "Saw 3D", stated that Amanda, in particular, is "such a peculiar aspect of the Jigsaw character", citing that John had developed genuine "tender feelings" for her.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Detective Mark Hoffman: A police officer and a detective, he was recruited by John after he found out that Hoffman killed a man in an inescapable trap to make it look like a Jigsaw murder, because the man killed Hoffman's sister and was released from prison on a technicality after serving only five years. John abducted him, scolded him for killing him (since he himself despises outright murder), and made him his first apprentice by blackmailing him, but he eventually grew with the character and became loyal to John. He is considered to be his main accomplice and even an equal partner of sorts, and was Amanda Young's rival; both fought for John's approval, which is why Hoffman blackmailed her into failing her test to lose John's approval or risk his anger. He became John's successor after Amanda and John's death, but he was tested as well by John, when Jill Tuck (John's wife) subdued him, placed a reverse bear trap on his head and then left, leaving him to die (fulfilling John's promise that Hoffman will not walk away untested). He survived it and he had his revenge while setting up new games, but he was eventually abducted by Dr. Lawrence Gordon, another of John's accomplices, and locked away in a bathroom to die. He was John's first apprentice.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Hoffman is considered to be his most powerful associate, utilizing his police contacts and power as a detective to stray away the police from John's location, while keeping his identity secret (until he was exposed to Internal Affairs by Jill). However, Hoffman never personally chose any of his victims in his own traps, save for Seth Baxter, and posthumously left notes on future victims. Like John, Hoffman is a skilled engineer and programmer, designing the pendulum trap and operating it by himself, and also designing and setting several traps for Amanda (as she is too slender to properly carry and place victims in some traps, and lacks mechanical aptitude like John or Hoffman). However, his sadistic streak worried John, who was eventually convinced that Hoffman, after his death, would continue his work not out of true beliefs but rather in a sadistic power play of his own, and as such, planned for him to be tested, but Jill set up the reverse bear trap on him to be inescapable.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Amanda Young: A drug addict, she was abducted and placed in a reverse bear trap by John. She managed to free herself from her trap. John recruited her after and she was put in the house trap in "Saw II" to make sure the victims played by the rules. However, she had become disillusioned with John's philosophy of giving the victims a chance; she created traps that couldn't be solved and deliberately made her victims die. John knew this and made a secret test for her to ensure that Dr. Lynn Denlon, a nurse from the hospital kidnapped to keep John alive, would be protected during the time and to free her after her task. However, she was unable to do so and she shot her. However, this was also a scheme by Hoffman; he blackmailed her into killing Lynn, otherwise he would tell John that she was responsible for Jill's miscarriage; she was the one who sent Cecil to steal the drugs. She was shot by Jeff, Lynn's husband, and bled to death. She was John's second apprentice.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Amanda, unlike Hoffman, has a much deeper bond with John and considers him to be a second father and a mentor to her. She was almost slavishly devoted to him, abandoning her former life to fully focus on him and keeping him alive (at some point it was very loosely implied that she was also sexually attracted to him). Also unlike Hoffman, who uses the traps as his own form of sadistic, perverse justice that is justified in his mind, Amanda truly believes in John's work. However, by "Saw III", she was disillusioned with his M.O., and started to design traps to be inescapable, believing that her victims did not deserve the second chance in life. She also envied John's relationship with Hoffman, whom he considered to be a better-suited apprentice and successor, as Amanda was emotionally unstable and not mechanically adept to design traps as Hoffman. She is also deeply ashamed by the fact that she was the reason why John lost his child, as she sent Cecil to steal drugs, and tried to hide it from him. However, Hoffman, who was aware of it, blackmailed her into killing Lynn Denlon, John's latest victim, in order for Hoffman to prove to John that she was incapable of carrying John's legacy as Jigsaw.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Dr. Lawrence Gordon: His secret helper, though not an official "apprentice". He was nursed back to health by John after surviving his trap and given a prosthetic foot, and became his new, secret accomplice. After sawing off his own foot to escape, his fate was left unknown, although he was referred to in passing and seen in flashbacks throughout the following five movies. He did not appear in-person again until "Saw 3D", using his prosthesis and a cane to walk. Following John's death, Jill delivered a videotape to Lawrence, in which John asked him to watch over Jill and take action if any harm came to her. After Hoffman killed Jill, Lawrence and two accomplices abducted him and chained him to the pipes in the bathroom. Lawrence then threw away the hacksaw he had used to free himself and left Hoffman to die.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Lawrence, who was initially very wary of Jigsaw and his methods before he was abducted, came to sympathize with John after his abduction and after John saved his life. He developed a rather different, colder personality, causing his wife to divorce him. He remained a doctor, but secretly assisted John in his games. His identity and his existence was kept secret to Hoffman and Amanda in order to protect him from possible retributions from them, but Jill was kept aware of him in order to deliver John's will to him after his death. While he was mostly a silent protector for Jill and kept an eye on Hoffman and Amanda, he also directly participated in setting up traps that required medical expertise, such as implanting a key behind Michael Marks' eye ("Saw II") and sewing Trevor's eyes and Art Blank's mouth shut for the mausoleum trap ("Saw IV"). He also wrote the "I know who you are" note that Hoffman found on his desk after being promoted in "Saw V", leading Hoffman to suspect Strahm.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Jill Tuck: The wife of John, Jill was not an official "apprentice" either, but was tasked with carrying out a trap on Hoffman for John. After his death, John left Jill six envelopes, the first five of which contained a game for William Easton, while the sixth was for Hoffman, whom John intended for Jill to test. Another envelope in the box was addressed to Lawrence, who Jill personally delivered it to. Jill finally tests Hoffman and places the reverse bear trap on his head. Jill leaves him inside with no key, intending for it to kill him. However, Hoffman manages to escape and gets his revenge on Jill by placing her in the original reverse bear trap and having it go off, claiming Jill as its first victim.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Logan Nelson: John's first secret helper, though not an official "apprentice". Logan served in the Iraq War with the United States armed forces, where he was kidnapped and tortured by the enemy. Some time afterward, his wife Christine was murdered by Edgar Munsen, a criminal allowed to walk free by the corrupt Detective Brad Halloran. While working at a hospital, Logan was responsible for mislabeling John's x-rays, which resulted in his cancer not being diagnosed until it had become terminal. Logan was kidnapped alongside four others in a barn by John, but did not regain consciousness during the first game until he had no time to save himself. John, deciding that this would make Logan's game unwinnable, saved him from almost imminent death.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: John is usually seen wearing a black theatrical robe with a large hood and red lining when running traps or abducting victims. On the commentary track for the first "Saw" film, it was explained that the producers originally wanted Jigsaw to have the red robe with black interior. Thinking that the red robe was too vibrant for the film, they reversed the robe to make it black with red interior. Amanda wore a similar robe in "Saw III" in an attempt to symbolically emulate her mentor.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Although Hoffman, while wearing the pig mask, always wore the dark blue rain parka he'd worn since the murder of Seth Baxter, further illustrating the gap between him and John. Also, both Pighead and Pighead II wear similar robes to John, the only difference being that the Pighead robe is red.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: A review of "Saw II" in the "San Francisco Chronicle" praised Tobin Bell and John as being "more terrifying than the movie villains in Hollywood's last five horror films put together; even though he's in a wheelchair and hooked up to multiple IVs."


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Don Summer, a writer for "Best-Horror-Movies.com", stated that "the villain, in Jigsaw, is brilliant and formidable" and that actor Tobin Bell has done a "fantastic job" for his role.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Neil Smith, a film reviewer for the BBC, described Bell's Jigsaw as "creepy", describing the character as adding "a palpably sinister charge" to the scenes he appeared in.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Sorcha Ní Fhlainn, a reviewer for the "Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies", remarked that Tobin Bell's Jigsaw had become such an entrenched staple of the "Saw" franchise, that the character's reduced appearance in "Saw V" was drastically felt. Ní Fhlainn also commented that Jigsaw's unique character was not successfully compensated for by his apparent successor in "Saw V", Mark Hoffman. Ní Fhlainn went to the extent to remark that the character of Jigsaw is so central to the "Saw" franchise, that it should have ended as a trilogy considering Jigsaw's death at the end of "Saw III".


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Similarly, several critics who reviewed "Saw 3D" lamented Bell's minimal screentime in the film, with Eric Goldman of IGN writing that he found it "impossible not to be bothered by how little time was spent" with the character.


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Tobin Bell was nominated for a Spike TV "Scream Award" three times in the category of "Most Vile Villain" for his portrayal of Jigsaw in 2006 for "Saw II", in 2007 (alongside Shawnee Smith's portrayal of Amanda) for "Saw III", and in 2008 for "Saw IV".


title: Jigsaw (Saw character)

text: Jigsaw ranked 30th in "Empire" magazine's "100 Greatest Movie Characters" list, 47th on "Total Film's" list of "100 Greatest Movie Villains", and 4th on "Yahoo! Movies" "13 Iconic Villains in Horror History" list. Horrornews ranked Tobin Bell as 10th on their list of the Top 13 Greatest Horror Movie Actors.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: The (from , Japanese for 'future') is a mid-size hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV) manufactured by Toyota, and is one of the first FCV automobiles to be mass-produced and sold commercially. The Mirai was unveiled at the November 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show. , global sales totaled 17,940 units; the top-selling markets were the U.S. with 9,274 units, Japan with 6,618 and the rest of the world with 2,048.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: Under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cycle, the 2016 model year Mirai has a total range of on a full tank. The MPG-equivalent combined city/highway fuel economy rating was , making the Mirai the most fuel-efficient hydrogen fuel cell vehicle rated at the time by the EPA, and the one with the longest range. In August 2021, the second-generation Mirai set a world record of traveling with a full tank of 5.65 kg hydrogen.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: Sales in Japan began on 15 December 2014 at (~) at "Toyota Store" and "Toyopet Store" locations. The Japanese government plans to support the commercialization of fuel-cell vehicles with a subsidy of (~). Retail sales in the U.S. began in August 2015 at a price of before any government incentives. Deliveries to retail customers began in California in October 2015. Toyota scheduled to release the Mirai in the Northeastern States in the first half of 2016. , the Mirai was available for retail sales in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, and Norway. Pricing in Germany started at (~) plus VAT ().


title: Toyota Mirai

text: The Mirai is based on the Toyota FCV-R (Fuel Cell Vehicle) concept car, which was unveiled at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show and the Toyota FCV (Fuel Cell Vehicle) concept car, which was unveiled at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show. The unveiled FCV concept was a bright blue sedan shaped like a drop of water "to emphasize that water is the only substance that hydrogen-powered cars emit from their tailpipes." The FCV has a large grille and other openings to allow cooling air and oxygen intake for use by the fuel cell. According to Toyota, the FCV concept is close in appearance to the expected production version of the car. The FCV size is similar to the Camry. The FCV range is expected to be approximately under Japan's JC08 test cycle.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: According to Toyota, the FCV features a fuel cell system with an output power density of 3.0 kW/L, which is twice as high as that of its previous fuel cell concept, the Toyota FCHV-adv, delivering an output power of more than 100 kW, despite significant unit downsizing. The FCV uses Toyota's proprietary, small, light-weight fuel cell stack and two 70 MPa high-pressure hydrogen tanks placed beneath the specially designed body. The Toyota FCV concept can accommodate up to four occupants. For the full-scale market launch in 2015, the cost of the fuel cell system is expected to be 95% lower than that of the 2008 Toyota FCHV-adv.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: The FCV concept also uses portions of Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive technology including the electric motor, power control unit and other parts and components from its hybrid vehicles to improve reliability and minimize cost. The hybrid technology is also used to work together with the fuel cell. At low speeds such as city driving, the FCV runs just like any all-electric car by using the energy stored in its battery, which is charged through regenerative braking. At higher speeds, the hydrogen fuel cell alone powers the electric motor. When more power is needed, for example during sudden acceleration, the battery supports the fuel cell system as both work together to provide propulsion.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: In June 2014, Toyota showcased an FCV with an exterior design close to production, announced details about pricing in Japan, and set a domestic market launch before April 2015, with initial sales limited to regions where hydrogen refueling infrastructure is being developed.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: Toyota began fuel cell development in Japan in the early 1990s and has developed a series of fuel cell vehicles, subjecting them to more than of road testing.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: Since 2012, fuel cell test vehicles have logged thousands of miles on North American roads. This includes hot testing in Death Valley, cold testing in Yellowknife, Canada, steep grade hill climbs in San Francisco and high altitude trips in Colorado. The Toyota-designed carbon fiber hydrogen tanks have also undergone extreme testing to ensure their strength and durability in a crash.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: Between September 2015 and February 2016, one Mirai was driven in 107 days on different roads in Hamburg, using just over one tonne of hydrogen.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: Toyota started testing two Mirai fuel cells in an electric Class 8 semi-trailer truck in the Port of Los Angeles in 2017 as part of Project Portal.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: The Mirai uses the Toyota Fuel Cell System (TFCS), which features both fuel cell technology and hybrid technology, and includes proprietary Toyota-developed components including the fuel cell (FC) stack, FC boost converter, and high-pressure hydrogen tanks. The TFCS is more energy-efficient than internal combustion engines and emits no at the point of operation or substances of concern (SOCs) when driven. The system accelerates Mirai from 0 to 97 km/h (0 to 60 mph) in 9.0 seconds and delivers a passing time of 3 seconds from . The Mirai refueling takes between 3 and 5 minutes, and Toyota expected a total range of on a full tank. The Mirai has a button labeled that opens a gate at the rear, dumping the water vapor that forms from the hydrogen-oxygen reaction in the fuel cell. The exhaust or water volume is 240 mL per 4 km running.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: At the end of the journey, there is still some water left in the pipes. Using the "" button the water from the vehicle is pumped through the pipes out of the car. The video shows the process after about drive.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: Under the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cycle, the 2016 model year Mirai has a range of on a full tank, with a combined city/highway fuel economy rating of equivalent (MPG-equivalent).


title: Toyota Mirai

text: The official Toyota consumption declaration states hydrogen is consumed at the rate of on the combined urban/extra urban cycle.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: The first generation of Toyota FC Stack achieved a maximum output of . Electricity generation efficiency was enhanced through the use of 3D fine mesh flow channels. These channels—a world first, according to Toyota—were arranged in a fine three-dimensional lattice structure to enhance the dispersion of air (oxygen), thereby enabling uniform generation of electricity on cell surfaces. This, in turn, provided a compact size and a high level of performance, including the stack's world-leading power output density of 3.1 kW/L (2.2 times higher than that of the previous Toyota FCHV-adv limited-lease model), or 2.0 kW/kg. Each stack comprises 370 (single-line stacking) cells, with a cell thickness of 1.34 mm and weight of 102 g. The compact Mirai FC stack generates about 160 times more power than the residential fuel cells on sale in Japan. The Mirai has a new compact (13-liter), high-efficiency, high-capacity converter developed to boost voltage generated in the Toyota FC Stack to 650 volts.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: The Mirai has two hydrogen tanks with a three-layer structure made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic consisting of nylon 6 from Ube Industries and other materials. The tanks are 122 liters combined, and store hydrogen at . The tanks have a combined weight of , and 5 kg capacity.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: Toyota's latest generation hybrid components were used extensively in the fuel cell powertrain, including the electric motor, power control and main battery. The electric traction motor delivers and of torque. The Mirai has a 245V (1.6 kWh) sealed nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) traction rechargeable battery pack, similar to the one used in the Camry hybrid.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: At Toyota's Higashi-Fuji Technical Center, the Mirai has been subjected to extensive crash testing to evaluate a design specifically intended to address frontal, side and rear impacts and to provide claimed excellent protection of vehicle occupants. A high level of collision safety has also been achieved to help protect the fuel cell stack and high-pressure tanks against body deformation. The high pressure hydrogen tanks are claimed to have excellent hydrogen permeation prevention performance, strength, and durability. Hydrogen sensors provide warnings and can shut off tank main stop valves. The hydrogen tanks and other hydrogen-related parts are located outside the cabin to ensure that if hydrogen leaks, it will dissipate easily. The vehicle structure is enhanced with carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers from Toray and designed to disperse and absorb impact energy across multiple parts to ensure a high-impact safety performance that protects the Toyota FC Stack and high-pressure hydrogen tanks during frontal, side or rear impacts.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: The second-generation Mirai was unveiled in October 2019 and went on sale in December 2020. It has a target of 30 percent increase in driving range with increased hydrogen capacity.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: The updated version launched on 12 April 2021 includes the "Advanced Drive" system including driver monitor camera and remote software updates. The system is equipped with lane centering system, can maintain the distance from other vehicles, navigate a lane split, change lanes, and overtake other vehicles. It also has "Advanced Park", an advanced parking assistance system.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: The car received a score of 33.8 points (88%) for adults, 42 points (85%) for children occupants, 43.7 points (80%) for pedestrians and 13.2 points (82%) for safety assist.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: , Japan had ten demonstration hydrogen fueling stations. Toyota operated three of these stations. To support commercialization of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles by Toyota and other manufacturers, the Japanese government announced a goal to build approximately 100 hydrogen fueling stations by March 2016 in Japanese cities where the vehicles were to be launched initially. By May 2016, there were approximately 80 hydrogen fueling stations in Japan.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: California had ten hydrogen fueling stations in 2015, and the government provided about $47 million for 28 additional stations there. As of December, 2017, there are 19 True Zero hydrogen stations and 33 total hydrogen stations operating in California.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: In January 2015, it was announced that production of the Mirai fuel cell vehicle would increase from 700 units in 2015 to approximately 2,000 in 2016 and 3,000 in 2017. , global sales totaled 5,300 Mirais. The top selling markets were the U.S. with 2,900 units, Japan with 2,100 and Europe with 200.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: Sales in Japan began on 15 December 2014. Pricing starts at (~) before taxes and a government incentive of (~). Initially sales are limited to government and corporate customers. , domestic orders had already reached over 400 Mirais, surpassing Japan's first-year sales target, and as a result, there is a waiting list of more than a year. The dimensions of the Mirai place it in a higher tax bracket outlined in the Japanese Governments dimension regulations, and the weight of the vehicle is also taxed annually during the annual road tax obligation.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: The Japanese government also provides a subsidy of 50% of the installation costs, with (~) allocated for fiscal year 2014. A hydrogen station in Japan costs (~), which is about (~) more than in Europe, which allows more generic materials.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: Toyota delivered the first market placed Mirai to the Prime Minister's Official Residence and announced it received 1,500 orders in Japan in one month after sales began on 15 December 2014, against a sales target of 400 for 12 months. By mid-February 2017, about 1,500 Mirais have been sold in Japan, and a total of about 2,100 at the end of 2017.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: The first 57 units were delivered to retail customers in California in October and November 2015. Toyota hoped to release the Mirai in the five Northeastern States in the first half of 2016, as hydrogen fueling infrastructure is built in the Boston and New York City regions. Toyota will provide free hydrogen fueling for the first three years to initial buyers of the Mirai, just as Hyundai does for lessees of its Hyundai Tucson-ix35 Fuel Cell in California. Toyota planned for cumulative sales of 3,000 Mirais in the U.S. by the end of 2017.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: In the American market, the 2016 model year Toyota Mirai started at before any government incentives, and a leasing option for 36 months was available with a $3,649 down payment and a lease rate of $499 per month. Several states have established incentives and tax exemptions for fuel cell vehicles. As a zero-emission vehicle (ZEV), the Mirai is eligible for a purchase rebate in California of through the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project. The federal tax credit for fuel cell vehicles originally expired on 31 December 2014, but was retroactively extended through 31 December 2016. By September 2016, Toyota had reduced down-payment from to and leasing price to /month with several benefits, and sold 710 Mirais.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: , U.S. sales totaled about 2,900 Mirais. Sales in California passed the 3,000 unit mark in January 2018, where there are 31 retail hydrogen stations in operation, with an additional 12 stations projected to open in the state in 2018. , Mirai sales represent more than 80% of all hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on the road in the United States.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: In January 2018, Toyota Canada announced that the Mirai for the Canadian market would first become available in Quebec, in line with the provincial government's zero-emission vehicle standard adopted the previous month. Previously, a fleet of 50 Mirai vehicles had been internally tested by the Quebec government under the direction of Quebec's Minister of Natural Resources, Pierre Moreau. The first public demonstrations for the vehicle took place at the January 2018 Montreal International Auto Show. Toyota is partnering with, among other agencies, Quebec's Ministry of Energy and Hydro-Québec, to introduce hydrogen fueling infrastructure in the province.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: The market launch in Europe was in September 2015 and the UK became the first country to sell a Mirai outside Japan delivering the first car to ITM Power. Germany and Denmark were also in the first group of European countries where the Mirai was released, to be followed by additional markets in 2017. In Germany, pricing started at (~) plus VAT. , the Mirai is available for retail sales across most of Europe including in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Norway. About 640 Mirai had been sold in Europe by the end of 2019. Copenhagen added 100 taxis in 2021.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: Former European Parliament President Pat Cox estimated that Toyota would initially lose between to ( to at 2014 exchange rates) on each Mirai sold in 2015.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: The Toyota Mirai won the 2016 World Green Car of the Year Award, announced at the 2016 New York International Auto Show.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: In April 2018 the Mirai became first hydrogen powered fuel cell electric vehicle to travel the length of Great Britain from John O'Groats in Scotland to Land's End in England (Land's End to John o' Groats), a historic milestone in British motoring. Driven by Richard Bremner and Luc Lacey from Autocar magazine and Jon Hunt from Toyota they started the journey from Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands. To reach the hydrogen refuelling infrastructure at the time they travelled via Aberdeen, Sunderland, Rotherham and Beaconsfield covering at an average speed of . The journey took 19 hours 40 minutes with hydrogen consumption of 0.9 kg per 100 km (16.1 kg of hydrogen consumed).


title: Toyota Mirai

text: The second generation Mirai was awarded in May 2021 by the Hispanic Motor Press for 'Car Technology of the Year', noting the commitments towards zero emissions and Toyota Safety Sense.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: In 2015, Toyota released "Fueled By...", a series of video commercials for the Mirai which show how hydrogen to power fuel cells like the ones that Mirais use could come from various unexpected sources. The last commercial, "Fueled by the Future", features Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and YouTube science personality Go Tech Yourself. It recalls the "Back to the Future" franchise and illustrates how the idea of converting trash into fuel (which had been introduced with the "Mr. Fusion" reactor that Dr. Emmett Brown (Lloyd) had brought back from the future at the end of the first film) had become reality. The commercial was released on 21 October — the same date in 2015 in "Back to the Future Part II" when Marty McFly (Fox), Jennifer Parker (Claudia Wells/Elisabeth Shue) and Brown traveled.


title: Toyota Mirai

text: On 15 February 2017 Toyota recalled all of the roughly 2,800 zero-emission Mirai cars on the road due to problems with the output voltage generated by their fuel cell system. According to Toyota, under unique driving conditions, such as if the accelerator pedal is depressed to the wide open throttle position after driving on a long descent while using cruise control, there was a possibility the output voltage generated by the fuel cell boost converter could exceed the maximum voltage. Toyota dealers announced they will update the fuel cell system software at no cost to the customer, claiming the process will take about half an hour.


title: Circular economy

text: A circular economy (also referred to as circularity and CE) is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. CE aims to tackle global challenges as climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution by emphasizing the design-based implementation of the three base principles of the model. The three principles required for the transformation to a circular economy are: eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials, and the regeneration of nature. CE is defined in contradistinction to the traditional linear economy. The idea and concepts of circular economy (CE) have been studied extensively in academia, business, and government over the past ten years. CE has been gaining popularity since it helps to minimize emissions and consumption of raw materials, open up new market prospects and principally, increase the sustainability of consumption and improve resource efficiency.


title: Circular economy

text: At a government level, CE is viewed as means of combating as well as a facilitator of long-term growth. CE may geographically connect actors and resources to stop material loops at the regional level. In its core principle, the European Parliament defines CE as, “a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. In this way, the life cycle of products is extended.”


title: Circular economy

text: In a linear economy, natural resources are turned into products that are ultimately destined to become waste because of the way they have been designed and manufactured. This process is often summarized by "take, make, waste". By contrast, a circular economy employs reuse, sharing, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing and recycling to create a closed-loop system, reducing the use of resource inputs and the creation of waste, pollution and carbon emissions. The circular economy aims to keep products, materials, equipment and infrastructure in use for longer, thus improving the productivity of these resources. Waste materials and energy should become input for other processes through waste valorization: either as a component for another industrial process or as regenerative resources for nature (e.g., compost). The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) defines the circular economy as an industrial economy that is restorative or regenerative by value and design.


title: Circular economy

text: There are many definitions of the circular economy. In China, CE is promoted as a top-down national political objective, while in other areas such as the European Union, Japan, and the USA it is a tool to design bottom-up environmental and waste management policies. The ultimate goal of promoting CE is the decoupling of environmental pressure from economic growth. A comprehensive definition could be: "Circular Economy is an economic system that targets zero waste and pollution throughout materials lifecycles, from environment extraction to industrial transformation, and final consumers, applying to all involved ecosystems. Upon its lifetime end, materials return to either an industrial process or, in the case of a treated organic residual, safely back to the environment as in a natural regenerating cycle. It operates by creating value at the macro, meso and micro levels and exploits to the fullest the sustainability nested concept. Used energy sources are clean and renewable. Resources use and consumption is efficient. Government agencies and responsible consumers play an active role in ensuring correct system long-term operation."


title: Circular economy

text: More generally, circular development is a model of economic, social, and environmental production and consumption that aims to build an autonomous and sustainable society in tune with the issue of environmental resources. The circular economy aims to transform our economy into one that is regenerative. An economy that innovates to reduce waste and the ecological and environmental impact of industries prior to happening rather than waiting to address the consequences of these issues. This is done by designing new processes and solutions for the optimization of resources, decoupling reliance on finite resources.


title: Circular economy

text: The circular economy is a framework of three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use and regenerate natural systems. It is based increasingly on renewable energy and materials, and it is accelerated by digital innovation. It is a resilient, distributed, diverse, and inclusive economic model. The circular economy is an economic concept often linked to sustainable development, provision of the Sustainable Development Goals (Global Development Goals) and an extension of a green economy.


title: Circular economy

text: Other definitions and precise thresholds that separate linear from circular activity have also been developed in the economic literature.


title: Circular economy

text: The idea of circular flow for materials and energy is not new, appearing as early as 1966 in the book by Kenneth E. Boulding, who explains that we should be in a "cyclical" system of production. For its part, the term "circular economy" appeared for the first time in 1988 in ""The Economics of Natural Resources"". and soon after that was used by Pearce and Turner to describe an economic system where waste at extraction, production, and consumption stages is turned into inputs. From the early 2000s, China integrated the notion into its industrial and environmental policies to make them resource-oriented, production-oriented, waste, use-oriented, and life cycle oriented. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation was instrumental in the diffusion of the concept in Europe and the Americas. The European Union introduced its vision of the circular economy in 2014, a New Circular Economy Action Plan having been launched in 2020 that "show the way to a climate-neutral, competitive economy of empowered consumers".


title: Circular economy

text: The original diffusion of the notion benefited from three major events: the explosion of raw material prices between 2000 and 2010, the Chinese control of rare earth materials, and the 2008 economic crisis. Today, the climate emergency and environmental challenges induce companies and individuals into rethinking their production and consumption patterns, the circular economy is framed as one of the answers to these challenges. Key macro-arguments in favor of the circular economy are that it could enable an economic growth that does not add to the burden on natural resources extraction but decouples resource uses from the development of economic welfare for a growing population, reduce foreign dependence on critical materials, lowers CO emissions, reduce the production of waste and introduces new modes of production and consumption able to create further value. Corporate arguments in favor of the circular economy are that it could secure the supply of raw materials, reduces the price volatility of inputs and control costs, reduce spills and waste, extends the life cycle of products, serve new segments of customers, and generate long term shareholder value. A key idea behind the circular business models is to create loops throughout to recapture value that would otherwise be lost.


title: Circular economy

text: Of particular concern is the irrevocable loss of raw materials due to their increase in entropy in the linear business model. Starting with the production of waste in manufacturing, the entropy increases further by mixing and diluting materials in their manufacturing assembly, followed by corrosion and wear and tear during the usage period. At the end of the life cycle, there is an exponential increase in disorder arising from the mixing of materials in landfills. As a result of this directionality of the entropy law, the world's resources are effectively “lost forever”.


title: Circular economy

text: Circular development is directly linked to the circular economy and aims to build a sustainable society based on recyclable and renewable resources, to protect society from waste and to be able to form a model that is no longer considering resources as infinite. This new model of economic development focuses on the production of goods and services taking into account environmental and social costs. Circular development, therefore, supports the circular economy to create new societies in line with new waste management and sustainability objectives that meet the needs of citizens. It is about enabling economies and societies, in general, to become more sustainable.


title: Circular economy

text: However, critiques of the circular economy suggest that proponents of the circular economy may overstate the potential benefits of the circular economy. These critiques put forwards that the circular economy has too many definitions to be delimited, making it an umbrella concept that, although exciting and appealing, is hard to understand and assess. Critiques mean that the literature ignores much-established knowledge. In particular, it neglects the thermodynamic principle that one can neither create nor destroy matter. Therefore, a future where waste no longer exists, where material loops are closed, and products are recycled indefinitely is, in any practical sense, impossible. They point out that a lack of inclusion of indigenous discourses from the Global South means that the conversation is less ecocentric than it depicts itself. That there is a lack of clarity as to whether the circular economy is more sustainable than the linear economy, and what its social benefits might be, in particular, due to diffuse contours. It may thus not be the panacea many had hoped for.


title: Circular economy

text: Intuitively, the circular economy would appear to be more sustainable than the current linear economic system. Reducing the resources used, and the waste and leakage created, conserves resources and helps to reduce environmental pollution. However, it is argued by some that these assumptions are simplistic; that they disregard the complexity of existing systems and their potential trade-offs. For example, the social dimension of sustainability seems to be only marginally addressed in many publications on the circular economy. Some cases that might require different or additional strategies, like purchasing new, more energy-efficient equipment. By reviewing the literature, a team of researchers from Cambridge and TU Delft could show that there are at least eight different relationship types between sustainability and the circular economy. In addition, it is important to underline the innovation aspect at the heart of sustained development based on circular economy components.


title: Circular economy

text: The circular economy can cover a broad scope. Researchers have focused on different areas such as industrial applications with both product-oriented, natural resources and services, practice and policies to better understand the limitations that the CE currently faces, strategic management for details of the circular economy and different outcomes such as potential re-use applications and waste management.


title: Circular economy

text: The circular economy includes products, infrastructure, equipment and services, and applies to every industry sector. It includes 'technical' resources (metals, minerals, fossil resources) and 'biological' resources (food, fibers, timber, etc.). Most schools of thought advocate a shift from fossil fuels to the use of renewable energy, and emphasize the role of diversity as a characteristic of resilient and sustainable systems. The circular economy includes a discussion of the role of money and finance as part of the wider debate, and some of its pioneers have called for a revamp of economic performance measurement tools. One study points out how modularisation could become a cornerstone to enabling a circular economy and enhancing the sustainability of energy infrastructure. One example of a circular economy model is the implementation of renting models in traditional ownership areas (e.g. electronics, clothes, furniture, transportation). By renting the same product to several clients, manufacturers can increase revenues per unit, thus decreasing the need to produce more to increase revenues. Recycling initiatives are often described as circular economy and are likely to be the most widespread models.


title: Circular economy

text: As early as 1966 Kenneth Boulding raised awareness of an "open economy" with unlimited input resources and output sinks, in contrast with a "closed economy", in which resources and sinks are tied and remain as long as a possible part of the economy. Boulding's essay "The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth" is often cited as the first expression of the "circular economy", although Boulding does not use that phrase.


title: Circular economy

text: The circular economy is grounded in the study of feedback-rich (non-linear) systems, particularly living systems. The contemporary understanding of the Circular Economy and its practical applications to economic systems evolved incorporating different features and contributions from a variety of concepts sharing the idea of closed loops. Some of the relevant theoretical influences are cradle to cradle, laws of ecology (e.g., ), looped and performance economy (Walter R. Stahel), regenerative design, industrial ecology, biomimicry and blue economy (see section "Related concepts").


title: Circular economy

text: The circular economy was further modelled by British environmental economists David W. Pearce and R. Kerry Turner in 1989. In "Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment", they pointed out that a traditional open-ended economy was developed with no built-in tendency to recycle, which was reflected by treating the environment as a waste reservoir.


title: Circular economy

text: In the early 1990s, Tim Jackson began to create the scientific basis for this new approach to industrial production in his edited collection "Clean Production Strategies", including chapters from pre-eminent writers in the field, such as Walter R Stahel, Bill Rees and Robert Constanza. At the time still called 'preventive environmental management', his follow-on book "Material Concerns: Pollution, Profit and Quality of Life" synthesized these findings into a manifesto for change, moving industrial production away from an extractive linear system towards a more "circular" economy.


title: Circular economy

text: In their 1976 research report to the European Commission, "The Potential for Substituting Manpower for Energy", Walter Stahel and Genevieve Reday sketched the vision of an economy in loops (or circular economy) and its impact on job creation, economic competitiveness, resource savings and waste prevention. The report was published in 1982 as the book "Jobs for Tomorrow: The Potential for Substituting Manpower for Energy".


title: Circular economy

text: In 1982, Walter Stahel was awarded third prize in the Mitchell Prize competition on sustainable business models with a paper The Product-Life Factor. First prize went to the then US Secretary of Agriculture, second prize to Amory and Hunter Lovins, and fourth prize to Peter Senge.


title: Circular economy

text: Considered one of the first pragmatic and credible sustainability think tanks, the main goals of Stahel's institute are to extend the working life of products, to make goods last longer, to re-use existing goods and ultimately to prevent waste. This model emphasizes the importance of selling services rather than products, an idea referred to as the "functional service economy" and sometimes put under the wider notion of "performance economy". This model also advocates "more localization of economic activity".


title: Circular economy

text: Promoting a circular economy was identified as a national policy in China's 11th five-year plan starting in 2006. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has more recently outlined the economic opportunity of a circular economy, bringing together complementary schools of thought in an attempt to create a coherent framework, thus giving the concept a wide exposure and appeal.


title: Circular economy

text: Most frequently described as a framework for thinking, its supporters claim it is a coherent model that has value as part of a response to the end of the era of cheap oil and materials, moreover contributing to the transition to a low-carbon economy. In line with this, a circular economy can contribute to meeting the COP 21 Paris Agreement. The emissions reduction commitments made by 195 countries at the COP 21 Paris Agreement are not sufficient to limit global warming to 1.5 °C. To reach the 1.5 °C ambition it is estimated that additional emissions reductions of 15 billion tonnes of per year need to be achieved by 2030. Circle Economy and Ecofys estimated that circular economy strategies may deliver emissions reductions that could bridge the gap by half.


title: Circular economy

text: Linear "take, make, dispose" industrial processes, and the lifestyles dependent on them, use up finite reserves to create products with a finite lifespan, which end up in landfills or in incinerators. The circular approach, by contrast, takes insights from living systems. It considers that our systems should work like organisms, processing nutrients that can be fed back into the cycle—whether biological or technical—hence the "closed loop" or "regenerative" terms usually associated with it. The generic circular economy label can be applied to or claimed by several different schools of thought, but all of them gravitate around the same basic principles.


title: Circular economy

text: One prominent thinker on the topic is Walter R. Stahel, an architect, economist, and a founding father of industrial sustainability. Credited with having coined the expression "Cradle to Cradle" (in contrast with "Cradle to Grave", illustrating our "Resource to Waste" way of functioning), in the late 1970s, Stahel worked on developing a "closed loop" approach to production processes, co-founding the Product-Life Institute in Geneva. In the UK, Steve D. Parker researched waste as a resource in the UK agricultural sector in 1982, developing novel closed-loop production systems. These systems mimicked and worked with the biological ecosystems they exploited.


title: Circular economy

text: Circular economy often refers to quantities of recycled materials or reduced waste, however Cradle to Cradle Design focuses on quality of products including safety for humans and environmental health. Popularized by the book , Cradle to Cradle Design has been widely implemented by architect William McDonough, who was introduced as the "father of the circular economy" while receiving the 2017 Fortune Award for Circular Economy Leadership in Davos during the World Economic Forum.