I could hug you. So much.
I think Tatopoulos' Godzilla is hands down the best Reptilian Monster design that has ever been starred in a motion picture. It's like a gargantuan, imposing Dragon. A magnificent Beast. The textures, the teeth, the head, the dewlap, the plates, the flow of the design, its personality - as the ridiculously huge Reptile fanatic I am, Godzilla hits so many targets at the same time. Truly and in all sincerity I could have, Tatopoulos' Godzilla is the ultimate Monster for me.
Ok, here is the first conceptual maquette (conceptual meaning that it set up the general design of the creature that could -and did- get modified later) Patrick Tatopoulos sculpted. This one was presented back in 1996 (I think, should check dates) to Toho, who loved the design and approved it. As you can see it's slightly different from the final version - there are some aesthetic differences, textures, etc. In addition to that, the rows of dorsal plates are two, not three, and the creature has a fifth dew finger. Both of the latter changes were requested by Toho during production of the film. The baby Godzillas mantain the fifth dew finger probably because there was not enough time & additional budget to remove them.
This is instead the final maquette of the Creature. You will notice the dew finger is still there - it was sculpted before Toho requested the change.
In the midst of sculpting...
...and the finished maquette.
This is instead the Baby Godzilla maquette.
