DUBAI: A new wave of Arab animators and writers is transforming what was once a niche art form into a medium of cultural expression, identity and resistance.

From Riyadh to Beirut, creators are reclaiming the animated screen — long dominated by imported content — to tell stories that sound, look and feel distinctly Arab.

For Ola Khseirouf, founder and CEO of Alef Creates, a boutique agency specializing in Arabic-first content and storytelling, the demand for Arabic animation has “grown dramatically in the past few years — both from streaming platforms and from within the region itself.

“Platforms like Shahid now produce and release children’s shows in both Modern Standard Arabic and regional dialects such as Saudi, Egyptian and Kuwaiti, because they’ve seen that kids connect better when the characters sound like them,” she told Arab News.

Saudi Arabia, through initiatives such as NEOM’s production hub and Manga Productions, which have trained hundreds of young animators and partnered with Japan’s Toei Animation on films such as “The Journey,” has positioned itself as a regional powerhouse.

This shift marks a new phase for Arab content — one where creators are moving from dubbing foreign cartoons to producing original Arabic stories and characters that reflect local cultures, humor and dialects.

Before the streaming boom, much of the region’s animation history revolved around imported or dubbed content.

That began to change in the mid-2000s, when locally produced shows started giving Arab audiences characters who spoke and looked like them.

In the UAE, “Freej” (2006) became one of the first Gulf-produced animated series, following four elderly Emirati women navigating a fast-changing Dubai.

Mixing humor and social commentary, it broke new ground with its use of Emirati dialect and 3D animation.

Around the same time, “Shaabiat Al-Cartoon” captured everyday life in the UAE through street-level humor, local slang and satire — becoming a Ramadan staple across the region.

Egypt also contributed to this shift with “The Knight and the Princess” (2019), one of the first major Arabic feature-length animations to reach international festivals.

Its production demonstrated the region’s growing technical capacity and ambition to tell Arab stories at a cinematic scale.

Over the past two decades, the Arab animation industry has evolved from digital experiments to a growing creative economy.

According to Mousa Abu Salem, creative director at Kharabeesh, one of the first studios to pioneer Arabic animation online, that transformation reflects both artistic growth and technological change.

“The industry is witnessing remarkable diversification, especially in Egypt and the Gulf, where universities and institutes now teach animation as a full academic discipline,” Abu Salem told Arab News.

He said that emerging studios and independent filmmakers were reshaping the scene through flexible, experimental production models.

The adoption of modern tools — from cut-out and 3D techniques to AI-assisted workflows — has lowered costs and allowed smaller teams to produce high-quality work.

“These developments have simplified production, lowered costs and encouraged a surge of bold and innovative projects,” Abu Salem said.

Platforms such as YouTube, Netflix, Shahid and TikTok have also opened doors for exposure and monetization, empowering a generation of creators “who are more experimental and culturally rooted — turning animation into a medium for social and cultural expression, not just entertainment,” he added.

At Kharabeesh, Abu Salem says that cultural authenticity remains central to every production. The team often draws from Arab architecture, dialects and humor to create characters and scenes that feel familiar yet fresh.

“We build our concepts around issues and realities experienced by Arab audiences,” he said. “Our use of local voices and accents adds symbolic social depth — each character reflects the environment and mindset they come from.”

He believes collaboration across borders is key to the region’s next chapter. Cross-country projects, he said, “don’t just pool talent and resources; they create new hybrid aesthetics and cultural intersections that reflect the diversity of the Arab experience.”

Still, writers face significant linguistic and cultural challenges. “The Arab world speaks dozens of dialects, and what sounds funny or natural in Emirati Arabic might not work at all in Iraqi or Levantine,” said Khseirouf from Alef Creates.

“When creating one show for the entire region, writers have to decide whether to use Modern Standard Arabic for wider reach or a specific dialect for authenticity and humor.”

She added that for Arab viewers, dialect signals belonging, while for global audiences, it makes the storytelling feel more genuine.

Platforms that invest in multi-dialect animation, she noted, often see stronger engagement because jokes and idioms land naturally with local audiences.

Animation, Khseirouf said, offers enormous creative freedom — but it also requires sensitivity to cultural boundaries.

“A show like ‘The Journey’ found that middle ground beautifully,” she said. “It celebrated Arabian history and faith through epic storytelling while still appealing to international audiences.”

Even so, she said, topics such as gender or social change must be handled carefully. “They can be powerful storylines, but they need to be written thoughtfully to avoid backlash while staying honest and bold.”

Among the standout examples of Arabic-led storytelling, she cites “Future’s Folktales,” a collaboration between Manga Productions and Japan’s Toei Animation.

“The animation style feels global, like Japanese anime, but the stories and characters are rooted in Arab culture,” she said.

“It’s a great example of how Arabic script development can make a huge difference — balancing authenticity with international appeal.”

Khseirouf said that more regional projects are following the same path. “We’re seeing more original Arabic stories being turned into animation, like ‘Ajwan,’ the Emirati sci-fi series now streaming on Shahid,” she said.

“These collaborations bring world-class quality but must stay Arabic-led in writing and direction to keep the local voice strong.”

As the industry matures, technology is beginning to transform how these stories are made. Artificial intelligence is emerging as a new creative partner — one that could accelerate regional storytelling while keeping production costs low.

Amit Jain, CEO of Luma AI, told Arab News that AI is “unlocking a new era of visual storytelling,” compressing what once took months into days — from pre-visualization and character development to lighting and rendering.

For creators in the Middle East, Jain says that it is about expanding who gets to participate. With tools such as Dream Machine and Ray3, artists can “move at the speed of their ideas while maintaining cinematic quality.”

Jain says that AI’s potential goes beyond efficiency. When trained with regional data and developed alongside local partners, it can start to recognize “the rhythm of speech, the tone of color palettes, and even how light behaves in different parts of the world.”

He believes that this cultural awareness will help Arab studios to maintain authenticity while experimenting with new visual styles.

Accessibility, he added, is becoming the great equalizer. A filmmaker in Amman or Riyadh can now produce animation that matches global standards — no longer dependent on massive studios or budgets.

“That changes everything,” Jain said. “It levels the creative playing field and lets local voices be heard on global platforms.”

But technology alone is not enough. Jain says that the biggest challenge will always be balance — telling stories that are rooted in Arab experiences while appealing to international audiences.

“Technology gives us the reach,” he said. “Culture gives us the soul. When those two work together, Arab animation can truly shine on the world stage.”

Looking ahead, Khseirouf believes the future of Arabic animation lies in empowering writers and script editors who can bring cultural nuance and confidence to the screen.

“The future looks very promising,” she said. “Arabic animation will grow fastest when stories come from within the culture — told in our own words, voices and dialects, and shared confidently with the world.”