The Hidden Fortress
George Lucas's creation of R2-D2 was influenced by the peasant Matashichi from Akira Kurosawa's 1958 feature film "The Hidden Fortress" (released in the United States in 1962), although his personality is completely the opposite. Lucas and artist Ralph McQuarrie also drew inspiration from the robots Huey, Dewey, and Louie from Douglas Trumbull's 1972 film "Silent Running".