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The Adventures of Figaro Pho
DVD cover
Created by	Luke Jurevicius
Composers	Michael Darren Luke Jurevicius
Country of origin	Australia
Production
Producers	Dan Fill Frank Verheggen David Webster
Running time	3–4 minutes
Production companies	Screen Australia Australian Broadcasting Corporation Ambience Entertainment Chocolate Liberation Front Fulcrum Media Finance
Original release
Release	2009 (2009) – 2012 (2012)

The Adventures of Figaro Pho is an Australian children's animated television series first aired in 2009.

It was followed in 2015 by The New Adventures of Figaro Pho.

Synopsis

Both series are about Figaro Pho, a character with every known phobia. One unique attribute also shared among franchises of the series is that there is almost no dialogue and no text. Instead the shows require strong animated physical-performance-based drama, music score and sound effects to carry the story.

The character Pho has a slim body and neck with a large smooth head, bald apart from a curl of hair on top, reminiscent of Paul Livingston's character Flacco. His only companion is a mechanical dog with a penchant for whimsical invention and hatred of the postman, one of the few recurring characters.

Figaro Pho has been the star of his own two-season television series as well as an anthology series of 26 90-second shorts and three touchscreen games.

Broadcast

The first series is available in over 100 countries on Hulu, Netflix, Cartoon Network Latin America, Pakapaka, BBC Canada and iTunes. In Canada it airs on both Family Channel and CHRGD.

Creation

Figaro Pho is the brainchild of creator and animation director Luke Jurevicius. The TV series and the games are produced by Australian production company Chocolate Liberation Front.

Creator Luke Jurevicius suffers from fears and phobias himself, and drew a lot on personal experience in the creation of the series. Jurevicius not only directs the program, but he also performs many of the key roles including doing the voice of Figaro Pho and composing a large part of the music.

The original shorts were first commissioned by the South Australian Film Corporation and The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s New Media and Digital Services Division as an innovative property for broadcast on ABC2 and online at ABC Online. The program was eventually produced for broadcast on ABC1, ABC2, ABC3, ABC iView. Following the success of the original shorts, ABC Kids commissioned 39 episodes of The Adventures of Figaro Pho for ABC3.

In 2014 producers Chocolate Liberation Front formed a partnership with Luma Toons, a new branch of the leading SFX studio Luma Pictures, to produce 39 episodes for the second series entitled The New Adventures of Figaro Pho. The program, which was entirely produced in Australia, was the first long form series produced by Luma.

The New Adventures of Figaro Pho started airing in August 2015.

Games

In 2014 ABC Commercial published a series of three Figaro Pho branded games for touch screen devices. These games are available through iTunes and the Google Play store.

Episodes

The Adventures of Figaro Pho

subtitled Fun, Fears and Foul Odours

20 episodes were released on ABC DVD in 2013 (Cat. R-113653-9)

• Fear of Fish
• Fear of Being Alone
• Fear of Boredom
• Fear of Relatives
• Fear of Rejection
• Fear of Mosquitoes
• Fear of Thieves
• Fear of Foul Odours
• Fear of Baths
• Fear of Baldness
• Fear of Hunger
• Fear of Clowns
• Fear of Shrinking
• Fear of Elevators
• Fear of Skin
• Fear of Becoming a Vampire
• Fear of a Rival
• Fear of Meteorites
• Fear of Everything
• Fear of Being Weak

The New Adventures of Figaro Pho

• Figaro on Ice
• The Bag-Piped Piper
• Figarette Pho, 9 Feb 2016 debut on BBC Kids with Pho is in the Air and Time Travellers
• School of Cool
• Dr Dread
• Kung Fu Pho
• Zombie Pho, 8 February 2016 on BBC Kids with Nightmare on Edam Street
• Pho is in the Air
• Bandage Brouhaha, 10 February 2016 on BBC Kids
• Tiny Terrors (11 Feb 2016 debut on BBC with The Soup)
• Nightmare on Edam Street
• Flower of Fury
• Myth or Pho?
• Vertigo Pho
• Spider Pho
• Loose Tooth, 24 Feb 2016 on BBC with Gumball Boogie
• Time Traveller
• Mailman Mania
• FrankenRivet
• Gumball Boogie
• Pizza Boy
• Neat Freak
• Eye Witless
• Laugh Attack
• The Soup
• Baby Bandit, 22 February 2016 BBC Kids debut with Laugh Attack and The Bag-Pied Piper
• Run Figaro Run! 9 March 2016 on Family
• Party Pooper (BBC Kids debuted 20 Feb 2016 with Valentine's Day and Mailman Mania) 18 March 2017 on Family
• Waltergeist
• Stage Fright, 11 March 2016 on Family
• Valentine's Day
• Fame Game, 20 April 2016 on Family
• The Grim Reaper
• Double Pho, 19 April 2016 on Family
• Pharaoh Pho, 8 March 2016 on Family
• Cup Cake Carnage, 14 March 2016 on Family
• Figaro's Big Adventure, 15 March 2016 on Family
• Odd Socks, 16 March 2016 on Family, guide lists.as "Old Socks"
• Camp Fear, 10 March 2016 on Family

Reception

The series has been reviewed favorably, comparing it to animation from Tim Burton. The series has been recognized for its humour, music and its animation and special effects. It won several international awards, including 2014's Best Children's Program on three continents (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Awards.; The Asian Television Awards and Kidscreen New York). The program also picked up awards for writing, digital effects, animation and post production.

Cast and crew

Key cast

• Luke Jurevicius
• Charlotte Rose Hamlyn
• Ryan Reynolds
• Maggie Felton

Writers

• Tim Bain
• Craig Behenna
• Ray Boseley
• Dan Fill
• Robert Greenberg
• Bruce Griffiths
• Charlotte Rose Hamlyn
• Mark Shirrefs
• Frank Verheggen

Producers

• Dan Fill
• Luke Jurevicius
• Frank Verheggen

References

1. "The New Adventures of Figaro Pho - Family.ca".
2. "The New Adventures of Figaro Pho - CHRGD.ca".
3. "Figaro Pho expands with TV sales and mobile games".
4. sean. "The Fears of Figaro Pho". digitalmedia-world.com.
5. "Figaro Pho". Luma Pictures.
7. "nowstreamingpod.com - nowstreamingpod Resources and Information". nowstreamingpod.com.
8. "18th Asian Television Awards -- Winners Announced-PR Newswire Asia-Newswire". prnasia.com.
9. "The Adventures of Figaro Pho Wins at Kidscreen 2013". ABC Commercial.

External links

• The Adventures of Figaro Pho at IMDb

• 2010s Australian animated television series
• Australian children's animated comedy television series
• Australian children's animated horror television series
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming
• Animated television series without speech