The strongest Saudi National Day campaign idea this year came from a classroom. Toyota and Abdul Latif Jameel marked the Kingdom's 96th National Day on 23 September 2026, and ALJ's 80th anniversary, with a film that celebrates Saudi Arabia through the eyes of its children. Seeing the country through a child's imagination lets a brand talk about pride and the future without a single slogan.
At iklipse, a creative and AI production agency working across Saudi Arabia, the GCC and Egypt, we led the AI production of the imagined worlds in that film, produced with NaF+. Here is how it came together, and why children make such a good lens for a national moment.
Saudi National Day is a crowded moment for brands.
National Day falls on 23 September and marks King Abdulaziz's unification of the Kingdom in 1932. It is a public holiday, and in 2026 the official theme, carried over from 2025, was "Our Pride Lies in Our Nature". Cities fill with green, and so do brand feeds.
That is the challenge. Every brand in the Kingdom posts something that week, and a lot of it looks alike: flags, falcons, skylines, drone shots of the desert. A film has to find its own way into the same feeling.
Toyota and ALJ had two anniversaries to honour.
Abdul Latif Jameel started as a small trading business in Jeddah in 1945 and became a Toyota distributor in Saudi Arabia in 1955, according to the company's own history. So this year's National Day also marked eight decades of a family business that grew alongside the Kingdom.
The brief asked for a film celebrating the Kingdom through its children. The story starts in a classroom, where a group of students build a model of the desert, then follows their imagination into the worlds they dream up.
We built the worlds the children imagine.
Our team led the AI production of those imagined worlds and the transitions that carry the children in and out of them. There are four big moments:
- A soft clay seaside, where a clay boy looks up in wonder by the water.
- A journey into space.
- Balloons lifting over Riyadh.
- A sand wave that drops the whole class into the desert beside a Toyota Hilux.
Each world has its own art style. The same children stay recognisable from one world to the next, which was the hardest part to get right. A child who looks like a different kid in every scene breaks the story immediately.
Match cuts make the imagination feel effortless.
The transitions were designed to match-cut from the live action. A shape, a movement or a gesture in the classroom becomes the doorway into the next world, so the jump feels as quick and natural as a daydream. Every frame was delivered in line with Toyota, ALJ and Saudi advertising guidelines.
You can watch the film and see stills on our Toyota Saudi National Day case study page.
Children are the right lens for a national story.
There are good reasons this idea works so well in the region.
Children make pride feel hopeful. A national day film full of adults can drift towards speeches. A film full of kids is about what comes next, which fits a country busy building its future.
Children also give a brand permission to be playful. Clay, balloons and rockets would look odd in a corporate anniversary film. Through a child's eyes they feel natural, and they give the audience something to smile at in a week full of very serious content.
Finally, families watch together on National Day. A film that parents and children both enjoy gets shared in family groups, which is where a lot of Saudi content spreads.
AI production fits imagination sequences especially well.
Building a clay world, outer space and a balloon sky over Riyadh as practical sets would take months and a very large budget. AI-infused production lets a team design each world in its own style and keep the characters consistent, then hand everything to the edit for finishing.
The live action still matters. Real children in a real classroom ground the film, and the AI worlds grow out of that grounding. Our post-production team then ties the two together with grade, sound and the match cuts that make the whole thing feel like one piece.
We touched on this film briefly in our post on Saudi sport's underdog stories. This is the fuller story.
Frequently asked questions about Saudi National Day campaigns.
When is Saudi National Day?
Saudi National Day is on 23 September each year. It marks the unification of the Kingdom by King Abdulaziz in 1932. 2026 was the 96th National Day.
What was the Toyota and Abdul Latif Jameel National Day film about?
It celebrates Saudi Arabia through the eyes of its children. Students build a desert model in class, and their imagination carries them into clay, space, balloon and desert worlds, ending beside a Toyota Hilux.
What did iklipse do on the film?
We led the AI production of the imagined worlds and the transitions in and out of them, working with NaF+, and delivered every frame in line with Toyota, ALJ and Saudi advertising guidelines.
How do we plan a National Day campaign with iklipse?
Start early, ideally three months out. Reach us through our contact page.
Sources: Khaleej Times, ARY News, List Magazine, Abdul Latif Jameel (alj.com), Forbes Middle East, iklipse case studies.
