Phantom 2040

Phantom 2040 takes the classic comic strip character created by Lee Falk in 1936 and places him into a futuristic world of conspiracy, political drama and the possible end of humanity.

Debuting in 1994, the series was conceived to be more “intelligent” than regular Saturday morning cartoon series, dealing with political and environmental issues as well as existential questions of humanity.

Although the series only lasted 35 episodes (about a series and a half), it received rave reviews. The series also had a lasting impact on the world on animation due to the casting of accomplished dramatic actors in character voice roles. This achieved a new level of maturity and complexity for vocal performances that set the standard for all TV animation that followed.

Development

The show was developed for television by executive producer David J. Corbett and executive story editors Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens. In addition to story-editing both seasons, the Reeves-Stevens devised the show's writers' bible and scripted numerous episodes, including the two-part pilot Generation Unto Generation. Other key writers on the show included Brynne Chandler and Michael Reaves.

Character design was handled by Peter Chung, the creator of the successful AEon Flux animated series. The characters in both series have Chung’s signature “skinny” design, although those in AEon Flux are even more exaggerated.

Plot

It is the year 2040, all environmental disasters and the economic Resource Wars from the early 21st century have decimated the fragile ecosystem balance of an Earth once teeming with life. Everywhere, the privileged and wealthy continue to thrive in expensive real estate developments that tower above the suffering masses. The victims of Earth's misfortune have been forced to subsist on scavenged refuse from the past on the mangled streets of forlorn city-states.

In Metropia (once known as New York City), the largest and most powerful of the city-states, the powerful robotics manufacturing corporation Maximum Inc. has slowly shaped a cold, steely urban centre, consisting of huge, residential towers intertwined with Tube Train tunnels. Maximum's robotic BIOTS (Biological Optical Transputer System) have replaced enormous amounts of human labour, and the corporation is illegally producing prohibited combat BIOTS to form Maximum's private underground army.

Under this guise of efficient progress, Maximum has their own plans for the future which they are calling the "Maximum Era". Through the construction of the fortress of Cyberville, an immense survival shelter where only the wealthiest and most elite humans will retreat, and the take over of Metropia by Maximum's BIOT armies, their plans all ultimately involve the dark path of decline and extinction as the culminating result of man's prior errors and efforts, once Earth finally succumbs to its slowly deteriorating state.

The only hope for the survival of humanity is the Ghost Jungle — thousands of square miles of mutated vegetation that may be the planet's salvation. This secret source of life is submerged beneath Metropia, unseen by most. College student Kit Walker Jr. is chosen by fate to save the world, donning the black mask and purple suit of his people's saviour, the 24th Phantom.

The role of the Phantom has been passed on from father to son since the 16th century, leading the world to believe that the Phantom is a single immortal individual. Kit, the 24th in the line, is young, unsure, and inexperienced, but he finds within him the courage and might to battle the evil that threatens to destroy the Earth.

Trivia

• In episode 1 when Professor Archer is trying to remember the name of The Phantom, he mentions "the Grey Ghost." This was originally the name Lee Flak gave to the character upon creation, but later changed it to The Phantom. It also references the original costume colour Falk envisioned which was also going to be grey. Early strips even reference this. However, it was later changed to purple.
• Kit wearing a hat and trenchcoat when surveying the streets is directly from the Phantom strips. He would use the alias "Mr. Walker" when in this guise. In Lee Falk's original strip there was a jungle legend that went along with this; "Sometimes The Phantom leave the jungle and walks the streets as an ordinary man. This is one of those times."
• Sagan's dog partner, DV-L, is a play on the name "Devil," the Phantom's pet wolf on the comic strip.
• The Good Mark shown in Phantom 2040 is different to that shown in the comic strip. In the episode The Good Mark, the ring is depicted as having two crossed sabres as its design. The official design from the strip is four sabres in silhouette, their points touching with their hilts pointing outward to form a cross. Because of this, before the mark was fully explained in the strip people thought the mark was four Ps.
• The Triads in the series look nothing like their videogame counterparts. In the game they are all said to be clones of the same woman, whereas in the series they are individual people mentally connected sharing one mind.
• The Magician in the episode of the same name, Steele, is a reference to Mandrake the Magician, another comic strip character created by Lee Falk before The Phantom. The Phantom and Mandrake crossed paths several times in the comic strip and are known to be friends. The 27th Phantom and Mandrake also appeared together in Defenders of the Earth. Voice actor Peter Renaday, who voiced Mandrake in Defenders of the Earth, also voiced Steele in 2040.

See Also

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