Robert "Bob" Peterson, born in January 1961, is a distinguished American animator, screenwriter, director, and voice actor renowned for his contributions to Pixar Animation Studios since 1994. He began his illustrious career as a layout artist and animator on the groundbreaking film Toy Story. Peterson earned an Academy Award nomination for his writing on the beloved animated feature Finding Nemo. He served as co-director and writer for the critically acclaimed film Up, which garnered him a second Oscar nomination. In addition to his writing and directing roles, he lent his voice to several memorable characters, including Roz in Monsters, Inc., Mr. Ray in Finding Nemo, and Dug and Alpha the dog in Up, as well as the Janitor in Toy Story 3.
Hailing from Wooster, Ohio, Peterson's family later moved to Dover, where he completed high school. He pursued higher education at Ohio Northern University before obtaining a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1986. During his time at Purdue, he showcased his artistic flair by creating the comic strip Loco Motives for the college newspaper, the Purdue Exponent. Before joining Pixar, he gained experience at Wavefront Technologies and Rezn8 Productions.
In 2008, Peterson played Terry Cane, a puppeteer in Dan Scanlon's debut feature film Tracy, and contributed additional voices for Tokyo Mater. His latest Pixar role involved voicing the Janitor at Sunnyside Daycare in the 2010 release Toy Story 3.
