Disney animator Glen Keane thanks firefighters after Mummy Mountain rescue
Following an early morning hike in Paradise Valley on July 29, 2026, legendary Disney artist Glen Keane was rescued by helicopter and later returned to thank Phoenix & Tempe first responders.
PHOENIX - A daring helicopter rescue at Mummy Mountain in Paradise Valley brought a legendary Disney animator and Oscar winner to safety.
On Aug. 7, he thanked crews for their bravery for risking their own safety. He brought a gift to Phoenix Fire Station 12 at 32nd Street and Glenrosa.
Glen Keane, 72, grew up in Paradise Valley and now lives in Paris. He wanted to say thanks to the Phoenix and Tempe crews who saved him by bringing them artwork he drew, which reads, "Our family helping your family."
It shows Keane being hoisted up to the helicopter, the firefighters on top of the mountain, and his family members who were led down.
(Previous report) Disney animator Glen Keane rescued on Mummy Mountain
Oscar-winning Disney animator Glen Keane was airlifted off Mummy Mountain at age 72 after getting off trail. FOX 10 spoke with Keane following the daring helicopter rescue.
What they're saying:
"Normally, you know, I'm drawing the Little Mermaid, Aladdin, the Beast, Tarzan, Pocahontas, all these characters and they are heroes. They're heroines," Keane said. "I was thinking, 'Oh, maybe I should draw Aladdin flying here or something.' I said, 'No, no, no, this is not about me.' You guys are the heroes. There's no fairytales to this. You are risking your lives and this is not animation. This is real life."
Keane grew up in the area, and says he wanted to show his daughter and grandkids where he spent time as a little kid. They started out early in the morning. But once he reached the top of the mountain, Keane became exhausted and overheated.
"As a kid, I could climb that area no problem. We started climbing and, sure enough, the grandkids were like mountain goats. They're 14 years old and 17 and my daughter did fine," he said. "But, by the time I got to that, what I think of is like this rocky stegosaurus ridge and I got to that, and I couldn't make this next gap and that gap was a terrifically dangerous one, and I said, 'I can't, I can't make it.'"
Phoenix Fire Capt. Patrick O’Neill is grateful to Keane for acknowledging his rescuers and for the artwork. He noted that everybody from Arizona knows who Keane's dad is, referring to the creator of The Family Circus comic strip, which O'Neill read all the time as a kid.
"He did the Family Circus. I read those all the time as a kid. I think we all did as a kid," O'Neill said.
‘This is super special'
"We didn't know who you were on the mountain. We didn't find out till like several hours later. They were like, 'Do you know who that was?' To have something like this that we can hang really means a lot because we do this all the time. I mean, his rescue is no different than the ones that we do. It was just on a different mountain in a different position. So, you know it significantly impacted him, but to have somebody come back and show gratitude, because sometimes these people, they get off the mountain, they get in their car, and they just drive away, and they don't realize that we just had 16, 20 guys on the mountain when it's 108 degrees outside. We're exposing ourselves to the heat and the elements. We're dealing with their mistake, right? And to not ever hear anything, you know, we're kind of used to it. But this is super special like this is going to hang in our station forever."
Keane was lucky the helicopter was in use. Right after his rescue, the Phoenix Police Department's "Firebird" chopper was put out of service and grounded until October. It is getting repairs out of state.
Keane's father, Family Circus cartoonist Bil Keane, died in 2011 in Paradise Valley at the age of 89.