"Our family helping your family" was emblazoned across a hand-drawn picture of a mountain rescue.
The motto of the Phoenix Fire Department connected with Oscar-winning animator Glen Keane after he was rescued off Mummy Mountain July 29 while hiking with his own family.
"I realized this is something that I will never experience again," Keane said. "I felt like I really needed to say thank you."
Keane, 72, the son of Family Circus cartoonist Bil Keane, grew up Paradise Valley and had hiked the mountain numerous times. He said he wanted to share the experience with his grandchildren.
But the hike took a turn, and he ended up stranded near the summit as the temperature reached 109 degrees. Keane told his rescuers he felt ill and could not continue his descent.
The Phoenix Fire Department and Tempe Fire and Medical Rescue had to airlift him off of the mountain.
Keane worked on Disney classics like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Tarzan and Tangled. He won an Oscar in 2018 for Dear Basketball, a film produced with NBA legend Kobe Bryant.
A week after the rescue, Keane met with the Phoenix and Tempe fire departments to gift them a drawing of the rescue.
"I've animated dramatic, wonderful moments at the end of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast and Tarzan and Aladdin," Keane said. "That's nothing compared to being the object of such self-sacrifice."
Capt. Patrick O'Neil of the Phoenix Fire Department said the drawing would hang in the fire station "forever."
"His rescue is no different than the ones that we normally do," he said. "To have somebody come back and show gratitude ... this is super special."
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Oscar-winning animator gifts hand-drawn picture after dramatic AZ rescue
