Oscar-winning animator Glen Keane had to be rescued from an Arizona mountain Wednesday after becoming dizzy and too weak to make the dangerous hike back down.
Keane, 72, was hiking Mummy Mountain near Paradise Valley with family members shortly after 6 a.m. when he became stranded on a narrow ridge.
After calling for help, firefighters reached the veteran Disney animator and found him alert but unable to walk. Rescue crews carefully secured him with ropes before hoisting him into a Phoenix Fire Department helicopter.
Keane was then flown safely off the mountain and examined by paramedics. Authorities said he did not require any additional medical treatment.
The animator later described the frightening moment he was lifted into the helicopter and looked down at the mountain he had explored as a child.
“I was being lifted up, and I was looking at all the areas that I used to climb around as a kid,” Keane told Arizona’s Family. “And I thought, Lord, thank you.”
He added that the ridge was dangerously narrow, describing it as “very much just like a razor’s edge up there.”
Keane is one of the most respected figures in animation and spent decades working on some of Disney’s most beloved films. His credits include Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.
In 2018, Keane won an Academy Award alongside late NBA legend Kobe Bryant for the animated short film Dear Basketball.
Following the rescue, Keane urged other hikers to take Arizona’s extreme summer conditions seriously and warned that even familiar trails can quickly become dangerous.
“Things change,” he said.