The famed ‘Dear Basketball’ director was safely rescued from Mummy Mountain in Paradise Valley after becoming ill during a family hike.
Oscar-winning animator and director Glen Keane was safely airlifted from Mummy Mountain in Paradise Valley, Arizona, after suffering a medical emergency during a family hike yesterday morning, according to Arizona's Family TV news group.
Phoenix firefighters received reports shortly after 8 a.m. that a hiker was experiencing a medical emergency near the top of a mountain, located near Tatum Boulevard and Lincoln Drive. Phoenix Fire Capt. Todd Keller told the outlet that Keane, 72, was stuck on a ridge, felt dizzy and could not make his way back down.
Keane reportedly remained alert but could not walk down with firefighters’ assistance. Crews set up a steep rope angle system for a hoist operation, and Keane was lifted into Phoenix Firebird 10’s helicopter before being flown to the base of the mountain, where paramedics checked him. He did not require further medical treatment.
The director told Arizona’s Family that he grew up in Arizona but now lives in Paris. He said he began the hike around 6 a.m. with family members, spent his energy climbing up the mountain and then decided he needed help.
Keane noted, “I was being lifted up [in the helicopter], and I was looking at all the areas that I used to climb around as a kid. And I thought, Lord, thank you. This was just a real blessing to have that crew.” He added, “My mountain goat grandkids maneuvered just fine, then I got up there, and its like, uh, what the heck did I do. I shouldn’t have done this, but I know I really needed help.”
Keller used the rescue to warn hikers about extreme summer heat, noting that temperatures can rise sharply during a morning hike and that rescues place first responders at risk. Arizona’s Family reported that Mummy Mountain is not among the Phoenix hiking trails that close during extreme heat warnings.
The son of Bill Keane, creator of the comic strip “The Family Circus,” Keane is a longtime Disney animator whose credits include Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. He directed the 2020 animated adventure, Over the Moon, which streamed on Netflix, as well as Dear Basketball, his Oscar-winning 2018 animated short produced with Kobe Bryant based on the legendary NBA star’s poem written in tribute to his career and retirement.
In a 2018 AWN interview, Keane discussed the film’s handcrafted approach, his collaboration with Bryant and composer John Williams, and the challenge of capturing the famous athlete through hand-drawn animation. Keane described drawing as “a seismograph of your soul” and shared the project required reducing Bryant’s real movement and facial detail into expressive linework rather than a cartoonish character.
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
