Oh, that's a good one. I'll have to remember that. Yeah, Hidden Fortress is clear inspiration both by the maker's word, but more importantly, in the film itself ("the author is dead", and all that").

This is like when artists say they were influenced by other artists, but really, they just like them. If someone in a death metal band says they were influenced by Sonny Rollins, that's really neat! But it doesn't come through on any recording, and it just means you like Rollins. And that's fine.

I honestly don't think we can even nail what influences us. It's rarely something impactful. The things that have influenced me as a person would feel like blips compared to so many other things, I think.