Netflix Show Earns Its Saudi Creator Plaudits, and a Prison Sentence

From the outside, the past few years looked like the peak of Abdulaziz Almuzaini’s career.

As the head of an animation studio in Saudi Arabia, he signed a five-year deal with Netflix in 2020. A sardonic cartoon franchise that he helped create, “Masameer,” likened to a Saudi version of “South Park,” was soon streaming to audiences around the world. And as the conservative Islamic kingdom loosened up, Mr. Almuzaini was being publicly celebrated — as recently as a few months ago — as one of the homegrown talents shaping its nascent entertainment industry.

Behind the scenes, though, he was on trial in an opaque national security court, as Saudi prosecutors — who accused him of promoting extremism through the cartoon series and social media posts — sought to ensure that he would spend the rest of his life in prison or under a travel ban.

Mr. Almuzaini, a dual U.S.-Saudi citizen and father of three, recently described his plight in a video pleading for the Saudi leadership to intervene, saying that he was awaiting a final ruling from the kingdom’s Supreme Court.

“I might bear the consequences of what happens after this, and I’m ready,” he said in the 18-minute video, which he said he was filming at his home in the Saudi capital.

The video was published on his social media accounts late last month and deleted the same day. In it, Mr. Almuzaini, sporting a black beard graying around the edges, spoke in front of a wall covered with colorful sticky notes.

“I haven’t committed a single crime in the kingdom” he said. “I haven’t even run a red light.”

The Saudi authorities have imprisoned hundreds of citizens during a crackdown on dissent that began in 2017. Still, Mr. Almuzaini’s video was shocking because he had appeared to be squarely in the good graces of Saudi leadership — attending government-hosted events and receiving glowing write-ups in state-backed media outlets. Despite facing grave charges, he was not jailed, although he was barred from leaving the country.