A big collective cheer came from hand-drawn animation fans as Disney’s Animation Research Library confirmed on its facebook page that Ron Clements and John Musker are working on Disney’s next hand-drawn animated film. Although, that’s all they could reveal about the project.

Today is Ron Clements birthday (Happy birthday to Ron!), so in its birthday wish to Ron, the ARL also spilled the beans (although just a few) on Ron and John’s next project.

On this 25th of April, we wish Artist-Writer-Director Ron Clements a Happy Birthday! Born in Sioux City, Iowa, Ron joined Disney Animation as an apprentice to Frank Thomas (one of the Nine Old Men of Disney Animation) and made his feature debut as an Animator on THE RESCUERS.

Joining John Musker, Ron and John (as they’re known at the Studio) have co-directed THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE, THE LITTLE MERMAID, ALADDIN, HERCULES, TREASURE PLANET, and PRINCESS AND THE FROG. Ron and John are currently working to develop the next hand-drawn feature at Disney Animation. (Sorry, we can’t tell you what that is.)

As listed above, Ron and John are the legendary team that have brought many Disney 2D-animated classics to life since the ’80s. We’re beyond excited to hear this news for two reasons: 1) Disney’s has more hand-drawn animated films in the works (meaning the medium is not dead) and 2) Disney has put this project is good, seasoned hands.

Unfortunately, nothing more is known about this project: no name, no plot, no release date, no nothing! Most likely the project is still very early in the pipeline and won’t be released until at least after 2014. Most likely if they were further along, Disney would have revealed more info about the project at CinemaCon like they did with Wreck-It Ralph and Pixar did with its upcoming features.

What do you think Disney’s new 2D animated project will be? What would you like to see brought to screen in traditional hand-drawn animation?