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Solid gold! DC's 'Metal Men' being forged by team behind 'The Little Mermaid' & more Disney classics
Animation legends Ron Clements and John Musker are leaving the world of Disney to take on DC.
DC is getting more animated. Warner Animation Group has brought in powerhouses Ron Clements and John Musker — the duo behind multiple animated Disney features including The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, The Princess and the Frog, and Moana — to adapt the cult hit DC comic, Metal Men.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Clements and Muster will be teaming up with Space Jam: A New Legacy writer Celeste Ballard to make an animated Metal Men feature. The former Disney duo are producers and have already written a treatment, with hopes to direct.
We don't have details yet of what story the Metal Men animated feature would focus on. Given the creative talent involved, however, it's likely that it will be something suitable for younger kids, even though many of the Metal Men comics are targeted to those 12 and older.
Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru created the first Metal Men story for DC Comics in 1962, where scientist Dr. Will Magnus built six robots named after certain metals: gold, platinum, iron, lead, tin, and mercury. The personality attributes of each robot coincided with their metallurgical name. Iron, for example, was very strong, while Mercury had a bit of a temper. Over the decades, the Metal Men have been at the center of lighthearted as well as somber tales. The Metal Men have also shown up in animated series over the years such as Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
The deal is the latest example of Warner Animation Group looking to expand its slate of projects, especially on the DC front. The group currently has DC League of Super-Pets coming out in May 2022. The Metal Men animated feature is still in its very early days, so no news yet on when it will get a release date.
