Hanso Foundation
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| The Hanso Foundation | |
 |
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| Type of Company | Fictional |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1966 |
| Headquarters | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Key people | Alvar Hanso Dr. Thomas Mittelwerk Hugh McIntyre Peter Thompson[1] |
| Website | http://thehansofoundation.org/ |
In the fictional world of the television series Lost, The Hanso Foundation was formed by arms purveyor Alvar Hanso, who turned his attention from "keeping the world safe through the development of sophisticated weapons systems" to focus instead on the development of new technologies to "create a brighter future for all humanity." Nearly all information about the Foundation is drawn from its fictional Web site, TheHansoFoundation.org, with further background revealed as part of the alternate reality game, the Lost Experience.
The Hanso Foundation, through its funding of the DHARMA Initiative, was involved in the construction of facilities on the island depicted in Lost.
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[edit] Website
The domain thehansofoundation.org was registered on July 18, 2005 by ABC [2], although the ownership changed from ABC to Verisign DBMS on April 20, 2006 [3]
[edit] Original web site
The Hanso Foundation was first mentioned in the Lost season 2 episode "Orientation". After discussing DHARMA Initiative founders Karen and Gerald DeGroot, the orientation film refers to "reclusive Danish industrialist and munitions magnate Alvar Hanso, whose financial backing made their dream of a multi-purpose social science research facility a reality." At the end of the orientation is a copyright declaration "© The Hanso Foundation 1980". Subsequent to the airing of this episode, the Web site www.thehansofoundation.org was launched by ABC.
Most of the links on the site led to a page stating "ACCESS DENIED", but a hidden link on the "Active Projects" page led to a page showing the orientation film seen in the "Orientation" episode.
Another "Active Projects" link, the Hanso Life-Extension Project link, displayed a press release dated September 21, 2005 regarding the life-extension of an orangutan named "Joop" celebrating its 105th birthday.
Finally, the "Alvar Hanso" page showed a photo of Alvar Hanso. Clicking on this photo showed an animation of a computer screen similar to the one Michael encounters in the episode "The 23rd Psalm". After this, the page displayed an internal memorandum dated October 5, 2005, from the Global Health Organization regarding the Hanso Life-Extension Project.
In March 2006, the site became unavailable. In the official Lost podcast dated March 28, 2006, the executive producers said the site was "down for remodeling" and would be available again in May. It came back online for a brief 2 weeks, with very few updates, and then went back offline again, apparently due back in July. A cached version of the former website is still available.
[edit] New Web site
The site was relaunched on May 2, 2006, with a completely new design. The new version site was entirely created in Macromedia Flash instead of plain HTML. It features most of the old content with greater detail and significant new content. Notable is also an alteration to the mission statement, and a completely redesigned logo.
In addition to the content shown openly on the site, fans of Lost have found additional pages and information hidden in easter eggs [4], by decompiling the Flash files on the site. [5]
A May 5, 2006 press release from The Hanso Foundation apologizes for "some sort of disruption" that its site is experiencing. [6]
On June 20, 2006, the website was closed due to "malicious infiltrators" and claims it will be reopened when legal arrangements are made. The original website can still be visited through a hidden URL.
The URL of Persephone's blog, in which she posts about traveling Europe, can be obtained from the source code of the Hanso site. At least some of the places this person visits are the locations of job opportunities listed in the Hanso Careers website. Viewing the source on www.thehansofoundation.org website the HTML code references the website [2]. A backwards-talking hint on persephone.thehansofoundation.org yields the password "evident agenda" which, when entered into a form takes the viewer to http://stophanso.rachelblake.com - a blog concerning the Hanso Foundation's practices.[7] and from there you are led to http://www.hansoexposed.com/
[edit] Current Website
The current web page is a statement from Alvar Hanso, which seems to suggest a change of plans and goals of the foundation. However, if you click on the last word in the third paragraph ("humanity"), a message from Thomas Mittlewerk appears, stating that he will continue his work. Furthermore, Hanso closes his written statement with the salutation of "Namaste." Coincidentally, this greeting was used by Dr. Marvin Candle in each of the Hanso Foundation orientation films.
By clicking play on the current java website, you can hear an audio statement talking about "the battle" of the hanso foundation and the "virus" included in the plan to save humanity.
"You've taken the battle, but that's all it was, a battle. Humanity needs me, now more than ever. I have the virus, I have the will and I will not fail."
[edit] Sponsor Sites
- Main article: Lost Experience: Viral marketing sites
The following sites have been featured in Hanso Foundation commercials and provided clues for the Lost Experience:
- www.sublymonal.com - Sprite
- www.letyourcompassguideyou.com - Jeep
- www.hansocareers.com - Monster.com
- www.retrieversoftruth.com - Verizon
[edit] Affiliated Organisations
Alvar Hanso is also a known member of the Lambda Iota Epsilon.
[edit] Executives
[edit] Alvar Hanso
- "From the dawn of our species, Man has been blessed with curiosity. Our most precious gift, without exception, is the desire to know more—to look beyond what is accepted as the truth and to imagine what is possible." — Alvar Hanso, address to the United Nations Security Council, 1967.
Alvar Hanso is the enigmatic leader of the Hanso Foundation. Little is known about him, but it is known he is or was a Danish weapons purveyor. This from the foundation's website:
- Driven by a need for privacy and a deep-seated sense of humility, Alvar Hanso has released few details of his personal life to the public. He first made his mark during the Second World War, providing munitions to various resistance movements around Europe. After the War, Hanso became the leading purveyor of high-technology armaments for NATO. After decades of keeping the world safe through the development of sophisticated weapons systems, Hanso turned his attention to critical areas of science and technology - always searching for new ways to improve the human experience and create a brighter future for all humanity.
In the Lost episode "The Hunting Party", the character Tom, known at the time simply as "Mr. Friendly", apparently quotes Hanso's statement on curiosity, claiming it was said once by a man "much smarter than anyone here."
In the Lost tie-in novel Bad Twin, Hanso was a board member for the Widmore Corp., but now Dr. Thomas Mittelwerk fills that seat.
As part of the Lost Experience, a fictional hacker known as Persephone reveals that the last time Hanso was seen in public was in 2002. She also asks the viewer if they have seen him before. She is commenting on a photo of him standing by a window, which the site claims was taken in October 2003, but which itself has appeared in orientation films for the DHARMA Initiative. It has since been revaled that not even higher up members of the Hanso Foundation have seen him recently. The hacker, Persephone, was later revealed as Rachel Blake, who Alvar Hanso said in a fictional statement was his daughter.
Also the website of Lambda Iota Epsilon society lists Hanso as its "most distinguished Members".
[edit] Dr. Thomas Werner Mittelwerk
- "I am very proud to be working with such a brilliant team (which includes Vince Temme), who all inspire me every single day as we forge our way to a brighter future. The expertise and dedication of the team constantly surpasses my expectations" - Alvar Hanso
Born in Austria, Dr. Mittelwerk is the president and chief technologist of The Hanso Foundation and is the trusted righthand adviser to Alvar Hanso, Dr Vincent Temme is the biologist that seeks the entomological breakthrough that the Hanso project insists on. After the loss of his mother to a rare genetic disorder, Mittelwerk dedicated himself to biology and genetics. Soon, while going for a diploma in molecular biology at the young age of 18, he was personally contacted by Hanso at CalTech and recruited to join the Hanso Foundation. Mittelwerk's early years instilled a work ethic that fueled the foundation in its first 20 years and has been the public leader of the Hanso Foundation.
In the Lost tie-in novel Bad Twin, Dr. Mittelwerk is a board member for the Widmore Corporation, a position previously filled by Alvar Hanso.
In a hidden message, Persephone reveals that Mittelwerk never graduated from CalTech and is not really a doctor. Another message reveals Mittelwerk as Hanso's heir apparent and again Dr. Temme was found to be the highest graded student in his university.
In recent videos featuring Mittlewerk, he has a pronounced limp in his left leg.
Dr. Mittelwerk's middle and last names may have been inspired by Wernher von Braun, the German rocket pioneer, and the underground Mittelwerk slave-labor complex built during World War II.
In the most recent iteration of the Hanso Foundation's website, Alvar Hanso described Mittelwerk as his captor, saying that his daughter's efforts finally freed him from "the dark entity that was Thomas Mittelwerk's regime."
[edit] Hugh McIntyre
- "Accuracy and transparency above all." — Hugh McIntyre
McIntyre is a veteran United Nations translator and has an extensive background in public relations and communication, serving as the "public voice" for the Hanso Foundation. McIntyre continues to ensure the Hanso Foundation's global partnerships are treated with the same respect as Alvar Hanso has for humanity as a whole. Due to his dedication to family values, McIntyre sits on many international boards that encourage such values, which are used as a catalyst to spread the message that the foundation is aligned with Hanso's mission. However, in a hidden message, it is revealed that McIntyre is not such a family man. In the video that appears when the words "the mouthpiece" are entered in the text box, he is caught with a woman who "hardly looks like someone's wife of 15 years." Also, by clicking the pink sheets that fall at the end of the video, you find that he spends large sums of money on this woman. The woman was later revealed to be Darla Taft, someone who assisted Rachel Blake under the name 'Gidget girl' The video also implies that McIntyre might have drug and money issues.
An actor portraying McIntyre appeared on Jimmy Kimmel's talk show on May 25, 2006, stating that the foundation had canceled the DHARMA Initiative in 1987, and did not know why the producers of "Lost" have attached the Initiative or the Foundation to their show.
In the July 14th Rachel Blake video, Hugh McIntyre was revealed to have died in a car accident, although it was heavily hinted that it was not accidental.
[edit] Peter Thompson
Thompson was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1959 and earned several degrees from Loyola University and The University of Chicago Law School before starting his career as a corporate attorney. Due to Thompson's heavy smoking habits, he was diagnosed with a case of lung and pancreatic cancer that was termed "inoperable." Faced with this, Thompson took matters into his own hands and began to search for help. This search for a cure led him to Alvar Hanso Cancer Center in Geneva, Switzerland. According to a clue posted in May of 2006, it seems that Peter owes Thomas Mittelwerk a debt for saving his life from the cancer. Following a miraculous recovery in Switzerland, Thompson offered his expertise to Hanso and eventually became vice president, general counsel, and secretary of the Hanso Foundation. By clicking under his picture on the Hanso Foundations website, you will be able to enter the password "survivorguilt". This reveals a set of documents detailing that, in his past, Thompson defended tobacco companies, nuclear power plants and an oil company that dumped chemical waste in Florida, even going so far as to countersue the plaintiffs. All these suits seem to have had a common theme of cancer running through them.
[edit] Lawrence Peck
Lawrence was sentenced to 8 years for insider trading which he subsidized through a retirement fund for a health care union. If that wasn't enough, 2 years was added onto his sentence for perjury and obstruction of justice. He only served 18 months of his sentence due to the fact that Peter Thompson was his attorney.
[edit] The Lost Experience
On May 2, 2006, coinciding with the debut of Lost season 2 in the UK, the Hanso Foundation Web site returned as part of "The Lost Experience", an alternate reality game which ABC had previously announced[8] on April 24, 2006.
ABC stated the game would be launched on May 2 in the UK, May 3 and 17 in the USA and May 4 in Australia and that "the first clue requires finding a toll-free number that will be released during the show or commercial breaks". On May 2 in the UK, May 3 in the USA and May 4 in Australia, each episode of Lost broadcast that day included Hanso Foundation advertisements in the commercial breaks, which included a toll-free phone number to call. Calling the number gave information, including a password for the Hanso Web site and access to the voicemail of Hanso executives.
On May 9, the Hanso Foundation published newspaper advertisements condemning the metafictional novel Bad Twin. [9]
[edit] Mission statement
On www.thehansofoundation.org prior to March 2006, the following mission statement was presented:
- The Hanso Foundation stands at the vanguard of social and scientific research for the advancement of the human race. For forty years, the foundation has offered grants to worthy experiments designed to further the evolution of the human race and provide technological solutions to the most pressing problems of our time.
- The Hanso Foundation: a commitment to encouraging excellence in science and technology and furthering the cause of human development.
With the site update in May 2006, the wording of the mission statement was changed to the following:
- The Hanso Foundation stands at the vanguard of social and scientific research for the advancement of the human race. For forty years, the foundation has offered grants to worthy experiments seeking to promote world peace through improved health, prevention, vitality and longevity.
- The Hanso Foundation. Reaching out to a better tomorrow.
[edit] Offices
According to the fictional site Hansocareers.com, the Foundation has at least five offices:
[edit] Trivia
- "Namaste", a Sanskrit/Hindi greeting, is found on thehansofoundation.org web site. It is also spoken by Dr. Marvin Candle, presenter of the Swan station's orientation film, Alvar Hanso at the end of the The Sri Lanka Video and Kelvin, the former operator of the Swan station. Judging from the recordings one hears when calling the Hanso Foundation (specifically, Peter Thomson's statement in option five), this is a phrase common to employees of the foundation.
- While loading the site, the percentage under the logo flashes "the Lost numbers".
- In the Lost tie-in novel, Bad Twin, a Hanso Foundation office exists on the 42nd floor of a building owned by the Widmore family in Manhattan.
- Lost co-creator J.J. Abrams' feature directorial debut - Mission: Impossible III - includes, toward the bottom of the credits, a 'Special Thanks' to The Hanso Foundation, among many non-fictional organizations, companies, people and cities.
- Executive Producer Carlton Cuse does the narration for the advertisements for The Hanso Foundation.[citation needed]
- Hanso in Numerology is 81516,Which are digits 2 3 & 4 of The numbers.
- Hanso is a Anagram of Nohas.
[edit] References
- ^ Executive bios at www.thehansofoundation.org
- ^ current whois record for thehansofoundation.org
- ^ thehansofoundation.org whois records for 2006-04-19 and 2006-04-20. Site registration required.
- ^ Lost Experience Blog, May 4, 2006. Site accessed May 4,2006
- ^ gehirn.org.uk blog posting, May 3, 2006. Site accessed May 3, 2006
- ^ [1], Press release concerning site disruption
- ^ thelostexperienceclues.com #56,
- ^ ABC to launch "Lost" interactive game, Associated Press, April 24 2006. Site accessed May 3 2006.
- ^ McCarthy, Sean. "Web, book, fake ads help fans get ‘Lost’", Boston Herald, May 10, 2006.
Hanso could also be linked with Hansa which means "swan" in Hindi.
[edit] External links
- See also: Lost Experience#External links
- www.thehansofoundation.org – The fictional Hanso Foundation website made by ABC.
- wakewalk.com
- http://lambdaiotaepsilon.com/History.htm
| Lost | |
|---|---|
| Production: | DVD releases • Episode list • Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3 • Soundtrack |
| Main characters: | Ana Lucia • Ben • Boone • Charlie • Claire • Desmond • Hurley • Jack • Jin • Juliet • Kate Libby • Locke • Michael • Mr. Eko • Nikki • Paulo • Sawyer • Sayid • Shannon • Sun • Walt |
| Supporting characters: | Bernard • Rose • The Others |
| Organizations: | DHARMA Initiative • Hanso Foundation • Oceanic Airlines |
| Elements: | Crossovers • DHARMA Initiative stations • Flight 815 • Mythology • Thematic motifs |
| Miscellaneous: | Gary Troup • In popular culture • Lost Experience • Rachel Blake • Video game |
