The Phantom 2040: The Ghost Who Walks – The Animated Movie VHS was released by Network Entertainment Pty Ltd in conjunction with Family Home Entertainment (FHE) and Lions Gate Home Entertainment in Australia in 1997. This VHS was exclusively produced and sold in Australia, a presentation of the original television animated series which aired on US televisions in 1994, fully licensed by Hearst Entertainment, Inc. and King Features Syndicate, Inc.
Network Entertainment Pty Ltd was an independent Australian home video distributor that operated prominently throughout the 1990s, a booming era for the local VHS cassette market. The company specialized in licensing, packaging, and distributing a wide array of international properties for the Australian retail and rental markets, ranging from special-interest sports and documentaries to imported children’s animated programming. Its physical releases were instantly recognizable by its on-screen production logo, which featured a signature golden five-pointed star centered within a circular blue-and-silver ring. Through strategic partnerships with major international syndicates like Hearst Entertainment and King Features Syndicate, Network Entertainment played a key role in adapting foreign multi-episode television series into cohesive, feature-length tapes tailored specifically for local Australian audiences.
As the home entertainment landscape began shifting from magnetic tape to digital disc formats at the turn of the millennium, the distributor’s standalone operations drew to a close. In 2000, Network Entertainment folded its operations and media catalog into Magna Pacific, a dominant powerhouse in the Australian home video market that would later be rebranded as Beyond Home Entertainment. Although it has long since ceased to exist as an independent entity, its unique 1990s packaging layouts, distinct local classification variations, and nostalgic CGI-animated opening star sequences ensure it retains a memorable legacy among physical media collectors and retro enthusiasts across the country.
The Phantom 2040: The Ghost Who Walks – The Animated Movie VHS was sold in retail outlets in a standard hard-plastic case, containing the standard configuration choices for family home media of its era. The feature has an approximate running time of 97 minutes and is encoded with Hi-Fi audio. The front cover contains an illustration of the Phantom in his Phantom 2040 animation costume smashing though a brick wall. A tagline promoting the feature is printed in the lower left reading “The Phantom Has Seen The Future… And He’s Here To Save It!”.
Visually, the back layout breaks up the text blocks with distinct promotional artwork and screenshots. In the upper-left corner, a circular badge showcases a stylized graphic of the Phantom standing with his arms folded across his chest over the show’s red and orange logo. Below this, two rectangular production stills are stacked vertically. The top screenshot captures a glowing, translucent blue cybernetic figure or Biot operating inside a dark, futuristic structure. The bottom screenshot depicts a close-up of a dramatic, open-mouthed screaming character with spiky blonde hair and cybernetic blue-and-white facial enhancements against a jagged city skyline.
Additionally, the back cover contains the retail store used barcode in the lower-left corner reading 9315675711573. The copyright text reveals a multi-year timeline: the animation content is copyrighted from 1994 by Hearst Entertainment, Inc. and King Features Syndicate, Inc., whereas this specific regional package layout and design was produced in 1997 by Network Entertainment Pty Ltd, an Australian distributor. The back cover also contains the national viewer rating logo of PG and directs viewers to the distributor’s Australian web address.
Enclosed within the case is a solitary VHS video tape void of artwork. The title of the feature is printed on a sticker along the spine of the VHS, “Phantom 2040: The Ghost Who Walks”, with copyright information delineated below this title. Additionally, a “Network Australia” sticker is found on the top of the VHS containing copyright information.
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