In an extraordinary series of videos made for the Museum of the Moving Image, film critic Matt Zoller Seitz discusses the filmmakers, authors and even comic books that have shaped the films of Wes Anderson. This is surely one of the most imitated filmmakers of the 21-st Century, so it's fascinating to see where he gets his inspiration from.

The influence of Martin Scorsese is an obvious one, especially in Anderson's soundtrack selections (the scene in Bottle Rocket where Owen Wilson gets arrested, as “2000 Man” by The Rolling Stone blasts on the soundtrack, is a classic Scorsese homage) and in his widescreen compositions and whip-pan camera moves. Another obvious influence is the work of J.D. Salinger; The Royal Tenenbaums is as close to a depiction of Frannie and Zooey and the rest of the Glass Family as we're likely to get while Salinger is alive.

Some are more surprising. For instance, I didn't know that the Peanuts comics provided a major source of inspiration for Rushmore, both in visual design (costumes, sets) and in comedic spirit. Or that the house in The Royal Tenenbaums was based on the one in Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons. The influence of Hal Ashby (Harold and Maude, Being There) is less surprising; though, as Zoller points out, Ashby's films show a level of political commitment that Anderson eschews. But both filmmakers share an affection for outsiders and have produced some of the most beloved comedies of all time.

I thought it might be fun to try to see who/what may have influenced the films of some of our top contributors. I'm not here to accuse anybody of ripping off anything. Some of the greatest filmmakers ever, from Sergio Leone to Quentin Tarantino, have found a way to be both derivative and transcendent at the same time. This is all about collecting, ideally for the purposes of art – what Jim Emerson at rogerebert.com has referred to as the cinematic “scavenger hunt.”

Adam Stephenson

This filmmaker seems heavily influenced by punk and youth culture. Cyberpunks takes its cue from the work of cyberpunk-postcyberpunk novelist Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon) as well as the Degrassi TV series. Rudolph looks to have been inspired in part by Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, specifically Heath Ledger's electrifying performance as the Joker. Fight Club and A Clockwork Orange are also two obvious precedents, as are the films of Gregg Araki (The Doom Generation, Mysterious Skin). Like Araki, Adam Stephenson is partial to society's outcasts, not to mention the stylish personal appearance of said outcasts (hipster clothes, hairstyles, makeup).

Fetus Films

The obvious influence here is David Lynch (Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive). Like Lynch, these Kansas-based filmmakers take a hands-on approach to sound design (by far the most intricate on our site). They're also obsessed with incomplete narratives, oddball humor, surreal characters in realistic situations, and horror stories – all part of the Lynch play book. Films like Playtime With Schlompkins and Mr. Carnival Man belong to the terror-in-the-woods canon popularized by such films as The Evil Dead and The Blair Witch Project, but the settings for these shorts may have as much to do with available locations as they do with paying homage to classic horror movies.

Patrick Boivin

Of the bunch, this filmmaker comes the closest to a unique and original artistic vision. (That's not to say Adam Stephenson and Fetus Films won't get there – these are young filmmakers we're talking about here.) Boivin's stop-motion animation films use toys like Tranformers and Star Wars figures, but those aren't so much influences as they are appropriations. Still, you can pick out certain motifs. Boivin's highly stylized mise-en-scène brings to mind the films of Terry Gilliam (Brazil, Twelve Monkeys). His affection for antiheroes in Radio and Le Queloune is very French New Wave, sharing cinematic DNA with the protagonists of Jean Luc-Godard's Band of Outsiders. There's also the Monty Python-esque humor (another Gilliam influence) that makes many of Boivin's films so twisted and hilarious. But the main thing you come away with is that this is a born filmmaker. Pretty soon, people are going to be imitating HIM.