More importantly Carl Bark's Scrooge and Donald comics are filled to the brim with a MILLION different things that look like directly lifted even to recent movies like Inception, sometimes almost scene-by-scene. He's right there with Verne and HG Wells as being absolutely foundational.
Wait, hold on, Inception?! I know Barks was massively influential on pop culture, but that is the case for comic books. The only film I can think to be inspired by the Donald comics is Raiders of the Lost Ark. With Indiana Jones generally taking ques from the adventures of those stories, and the boulder scene being a homage to a similar moment. Yet, I'm not too sure if I believe that; I tried looking for an official source from Spielberg and Lucas, but I came across nothing. So is it really true that Barks inspired a lot of modern films, such as Inception?
OK, I did my research and found out about a few things. First, no, Inception was not inspired by the DD comics. There is a story called 'The Dream of a Lifetime', which has a very similar premise to Inception and was published 8 years before the film. But it happens to be a massive case of coincidence; as Nolan pitched the idea to WB way back in 2001. It's also worth mentioning that The Dream of a Lifetime was made by Don Rosa, not Carl Barks. Second, yes, Spielberg and Lucas are vocal about their inspirations from Barks. Especially with the case of Lucas, who wrote the foreword to a collection of Scrooge McDuck stories. But either way, your point still stands. The amount of people Barks inspired is insane, and he was also an incredible artist in his own rights
He owned a lot of Donald duck comic books ,and some of the panels in Astro boy are directly influenced by panels in Donald duck and some are straight up swipes. also he eventually went on to visit the creator of the DD comics and they became friends i believe.
I think the main reason why people say that, is due to Tezuka being a huge fan of Carl Barks. His first pile of comics were his Donald Duck stories, and he would later become friends with him. Plus, Barks was an insanely influential artist. Inspiring people from Matt Groening and R. Crumb, to even Spielberg and Lucas. So, many thought Tezuka was one of them. It's safe to assume with your evidence, that Barks wasn't the sole inspiration for Tezuka; but one of the many inspirations for Tezuka. And on the list of his many influences from Disney
