Pete Peterson (born Svend Aage Pedersen; September 30, 1903 - February 24, 1962) was an American motion picture special effects and stop-motion animation pioneer, best remembered for his work with Willis H. O'Brien on Mighty Joe Young (1949), The Black Scorpion (1957) and The Giant Behemoth (1959).

[1] Pete Peterson, who changed to this name in 1945, worked as a grip at RKO studios in Hollywood in the 1940s and was assigned to work on Mighty Joe Young (1949) lighting the miniature sets where technical creator Willis H. O'Brien and his first technician Ray Harryhausen were creating the stop-motion animation of the title character.

The two spent a few months on set in Mexico before returning to California to complete such memorable scenes as the descent into the scorpion’s lair, the train wreck and the final conflict in the stadium.

The film was discovered along with the Beetlemen test footage and some of the models used in these and other productions in a trunk recovered from the wife of a former neighbour of Peterson after his death in 1962.

The film was discovered along with the Las Vegas Monster test footage and some of the models used in these and other productions in a trunk recovered from the wife of a former neighbour of Peterson after his death in 1962.