Figaro Pho

"A persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it." - Definition of a phobia, taken from dictionary.com

"Figaro Pho" is an exceptional piece of high level Australian animation. It's the brainchild of Australian director Luke Jurevicius and co-produced by ABC TV.

"Figaro Pho" is about a boy swamped with an alphabet of phobias. Whether it's the fear of spiders, telephones, vegetables, beards, or even fear of the great mole rat, Figaro has experienced them all! In fact, we would be strapped to think of a single phobia that Figaro has not harboured, lodged or morbidly entertained.

"Figaro Pho" has been inspired by the fact that we love to poke fun at our various fears and idiosyncrasies. Figaro Pho takes a Patch Adams approach to phobias, because they can be amusing, cryptic, confusing, imaginative, surreal and bizarre.

Director Luke Jurevicius has worked closely with ABC TV for several years on various animation projects and enjoyed considerable success with the Dust Echoes series.

He received the highly competitive 2007 APRA/AGSC award for "Best Music for Children's Television" for Dust Echoes series 2. He has illustrated over 400 titles as a children's book illustrator working with publishers including Random House Australia, Blake Education, Oxford University Press and Pearson Education.

Creative consultant Deane Taylor is well known for his Art Direction on Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The 26 x 1.5 minute episodes are aimed at a target audience aged from 7 to 12, though the subject and style of "Figaro Pho" attracts a much broader audience.

Take a journey into the absurd and humorous world of Figaro as he reveals to us his own personal A-Z of Phobias. (Source: ABC)