---
name: "Bob Peterson"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/bob-peterson"
fi1m_id: "bob-peterson"
imdb_id: "nm0677037"
tmdb_id: 10
wikidata_id: "Q740682"
roles: ["Writer","Actor","Director"]
born: "18 January 1961"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 11
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 0
updated: "2026-10-01T22:32:50.131238+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Bob Peterson

## Identity

Bob Peterson

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/bob-peterson
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** bob-peterson
- **IMDb ID:** nm0677037
- **TMDB ID:** 10
- **Wikidata ID:** Q740682
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Peterson_(filmmaker), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q740682, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0677037/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/10

Writer and actor. Born 18 January 1961 in Wooster, Ohio, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Actor, Director
- **Born:** 18 January 1961, Wooster, Ohio, USA
- **Active:** 1995–present
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 11: 9 acting, 1 directing, 1 crew
- **Frequently works with:** [Andrew Stanton](https://film.one/person/andrew-stanton.md), [Pete Docter](https://film.one/person/pete-docter.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 2 Oscar nominations
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 92 (1), 2000s 87 (4), 2010s 71 (4), 2020s 70 (2)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Peterson_(filmmaker), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q740682, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0677037/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/10

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Up*](https://film.one/film/up.md) (88), [*Monsters, Inc.*](https://film.one/film/monsters-inc.md) (86), [*Finding Nemo*](https://film.one/film/finding-nemo.md) (85), [*Cars 3*](https://film.one/film/cars-3.md) (58)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Bob Peterson

> Bob Peterson is Pixar's man for the sidekick: the dog who cannot finish a thought, the sharks trying to give up fish. When Andrew Stanton or Pete Docter owns the shape of the film, his characters make it. When the shape is his, the middle goes soft.

The best thing Bob Peterson ever wrote is a dog who cannot finish a thought. Dug, in *Up* (2009), is voiced by Peterson himself, and every line he says is sincere, cheerful and interrupted by whatever has just moved at the edge of his vision. Peterson has a habit of doing this: he writes the film in the story room and then turns up in the cast as the odd one out. He is Roz in *Monsters, Inc.* (2001), deadpan and devoted to paperwork, and Mr Ray in *Finding Nemo* (2003). The supporting character is his trade, and he is good at it.

He joined Pixar in 1994 as an animator and moved into storyboarding, where Joe Ranft took him on, and by *Monsters, Inc.* he was story supervisor. The screenplay for *Finding Nemo*, written with Andrew Stanton and David Reynolds, shows what he brings to the margins: the sharks attempting reform are funny before the adults have finished recognising the joke, and each sea creature carries a worry of its own, so the journey never becomes a run of introductions. *Up*, which he co-wrote and co-directed with Pete Docter, is the high point. Carl and Russell's friendship develops without anyone insisting on a lesson, and the film is at its most persuasive when it lets the two of them talk.

Then he was given a film of his own. *The Good Dinosaur* (2015) was his idea and he directed it until August 2013, when he was taken off it because the story would not come together. His own account is the plainest anyone has offered: "Basically, we had a good first act, our second act didn't progress emotionally like we wanted it and our third act was missing in action." He stayed at Pixar and went back to writing for other people, and the same weakness shows in those films. *Finding Dory* (2016), whose story he wrote with Stanton, is tender and small for an hour and then decides it must be big and loud to finish; the scenes hold up and the shape lets them down. *Cars 3* (2017), written with Kiel Murray and Mike Rich, takes the idea of an ageing racer seriously and is kind, handsome and dull for most of its length.

We sat through the chases in *Up* waiting for the next quiet exchange between Carl and Russell, because two people in a room, one of them talking too much, were worth more to us than the whole adventure around them. That is where Peterson lives. He has since written and directed two runs of shorts, *Forky Asks a Question* (2019–20) and *Dug Days* (2021–23), each built round a supporting character he voices. A few minutes at a time, one sidekick and one joke, may be the form that suits him best. There is no second act to lose.

## Biography

Bob Peterson is an American animator, screenwriter, director and voice actor. He joined Pixar in 1994 and has contributed to numerous films as a story artist, supervisor and writer. He voiced Roz in *Monsters, Inc.* (2001) and *Monsters University* (2013).

Peterson co-directed and co-wrote *Up* (2009), in which he also voiced Dug and Alpha, and wrote the screenplay for *Finding Nemo* (2003), for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He has provided additional voices in films including *The Incredibles* (2004), *Cars* (2006) and *Toy Story 3* (2010). Born in Wooster, Ohio, he studied mechanical engineering at Ohio Northern University and Purdue University before working in computer graphics.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, behindthevoiceactors.com.*

## On Fi1m (11)

### Performed in (9)

- *Hoppers* (2026), Fi1m 76, as Additional Voices (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/hoppers.md)
- *Elio* (2025), Fi1m 64, as Universal Users Manual (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/elio.md)
- *Cars 3* (2017), Fi1m 58, as Chick Hicks (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/cars-3.md)
- *Finding Dory* (2016), Fi1m 68, as Mr. Ray (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/finding-dory.md)
- *Monsters University* (2013), Fi1m 72, as Roz (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/monsters-university.md)
- *Toy Story 3* (2010), Fi1m 87, as Additional Voices (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/toy-story-3.md)
- *The Incredibles* (2004), Fi1m 88, as Additional Voices (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-incredibles.md)
- *Finding Nemo* (2003), Fi1m 85, as Mr. Ray / Additional Voices (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/finding-nemo.md)
- *Monsters, Inc.* (2001), Fi1m 86, as Roz (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/monsters-inc.md)

### Directed (1)

- *Up* (2009), Fi1m 88, as Dug / Alpha (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/up.md)

### Crew (1)

- *Toy Story* (1995), Fi1m 92, Animation — [page](https://film.one/film/toy-story.md)

## Complete filmography (46)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Hoppers* (2026), as Additional Voices (voice) · ADR & Dubbing — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/hoppers.md)
- *Monsters Funday Football* (2025), as Roz (Voice)
- *Elio* (2025), as Universal Users Manual (voice) · ADR & Dubbing — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/elio.md)
- *LEGO Pixar: BrickToons* (2024), series, as Mr. Ray (voice)
- *Carl's Date* (2023), as Dug / Alpha (voice) · Story Artist, Director, Writer
- *Dug Days* (2021), series, as Dug (voice) · Writer, Director, Creator
- *Monsters at Work* (2021), series, as Roze (voice), Roz / Roze (voice), Roz / Bob Peterson (voice), Roze / Bob Peterson (voice), Roz (voice) · Creative Consultant
- *Forky Asks a Question: What Is Reading?* (2020), as Voice Over Announcer (voice) · Director, Writer
- *Forky Asks a Question: What Is Cheese?* (2020), as Voice Over Announcer (voice) · Director, Writer
- *Forky Asks a Question: What Is a Pet?* (2019), as Voice Over Announcer (voice) · Director, Writer
- *Forky Asks a Question: What Is a Leader?* (2019), as Voice Over Announcer (voice) · Writer, Director
- *Forky Asks a Question: What Is a Computer?* (2019), as Voice Over Announcer (voice) · Director, Writer
- *Forky Asks a Question: What Is Love?* (2019), as Voice Over Announcer (voice) · Director, Writer
- *Forky Asks a Question: What Is Time?* (2019), as Voice Over Announcer (voice) · Director, Writer
- *Forky Asks a Question: What Is Art?* (2019), as Voice Over Announcer (voice) · Director, Writer
- *Forky Asks a Question: What Is a Friend?* (2019), as Voice Over Announcer (voice) · Director, Writer
- *Forky Asks a Question: What Is Money?* (2019), as Voice Over Announcer (voice) · Director, Writer
- *Forky Asks a Question* (2019), series, as Narrator (voice) · Director, Writer, Creator
- *Miss Fritter's Racing Skoool* (2017), as Dr. Damage (voice)
- *Cars 3* (2017), as Chick Hicks (voice), Additional Voices (voice) · Screenplay — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/cars-3.md)
- *Marine Life Interviews* (2016), Writer
- *Finding Dory* (2016), as Mr. Ray (voice) · Story — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/finding-dory.md)
- *The Good Dinosaur* (2015), Story
- *Inside Out* (2015), Additional Dialogue — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/inside-out.md)
- *Monsters University* (2013), as Roz (voice) — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/monsters-university.md)
- *Toy Story 3* (2010), as Additional Voices (voice) — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/toy-story-3.md)
- *Tracy* (2009), as Terry Cane
- *Dug's Special Mission* (2009), as Dug / Alpha (voice)
- *George and A.J.* (2009), as Dug (voice)
- *Up* (2009), as Dug / Alpha (voice) · Screenplay, Story, Co-Director — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/up.md)
- *Tokyo Mater* (2008), as Additional Voice Talent (voice)
- *Cars Toon Mater's Tall Tales* (2008), as Additional Voices (voice)
- *El Materdor* (2008), as Additional Voice Talent (voice)
- *Mater the Greater* (2008), as Additional Voices (voice)
- *Rescue Squad Mater* (2008), as Additional Voice Talent (voice)
- *The Pixar Story* (2007), as Mr. Ray / Dolphins / Seagulls (voice) (archive footage)
- *Ratatouille* (2007), as Additional Writing — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/ratatouille.md)
- *Cars* (2006), as Additional Voices (voice)
- *The Incredibles* (2004), as Additional Voices (voice) — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/the-incredibles.md)
- *Exploring the Reef* (2003), Writer
- *Finding Nemo* (2003), as Mr. Ray / Additional Voices (voice) · Screenplay — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/finding-nemo.md)
- *Monsters, Inc.* (2001), as Roz (voice) · Story Supervisor, Additional Writing, Script Supervisor — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/monsters-inc.md)
- *Geri's Game* (1997), as Geri (voice)
- *Toy Story* (1995), Animation — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/toy-story.md)
- *The Oscars* (1953), series, as Dug (voice)
- *Cars: Lightning Racers*, series, as Chick Hicks (voice)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 2 nominated

- 2010: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated), for *Up*
- 2004: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated), for *Finding Nemo*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/bob-peterson