Mothra モスラ (1990)

Following the production of Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989), plans were made to resurrect another of Toho's most popular monsters, Mothra, and feature her in her own solo film for the first time since her debut in 1961. The ambitious project titled Mothra vs. Bagan would have followed her adventure from an egg to an adult, and would have paralleled a number of events originally featured in Mothra (1961), including her motivations to rescue the kidnapped Shobijin and her cocoon being burned by heat masers. Her adult form, however, would have sported an assortment of new abilities, and the wings of her prop would have been made to be very flexible for dynamic poses.

Sadly, Mothra's 90's-era debut would have to wait, as Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) failed to meet box office expectations, giving Toho second thoughts on making a high-budget solo Mothra film and eventually shelving it. Later, Kazuki Omori proposed a new screenplay in 1990 titled Mothra vs. Godzilla, having Mothra face off against Toho's most iconic monster, with the possibility of Bagan appearing. Prior to this, Toho ran a theatrical poll during Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) on what monsters were most popular with Japanese audiences, with King Ghidorah placing very high among young male voters. As a result, Toho would pursue a film using the three-headed titan instead, and Mothra's revival would be put on hiatus until 1992, where she would finally appear in Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), albeit in a form not as versatile as her 1990 rendition.

• Mothra's Prism Beams used in Mothra vs. Bagan would later be incorporated into Battra's arsenal in Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), with her 1992 incarnation gaining antenna rays instead.
• Some early pieces of Mothra vs. Bagan artwork depict Mothra with a needle-like stinger, and even being colored like a large bee.
• Some of Mothra's concept artwork and the Flight Mode miniature reference models can be seen in the special features of the 2002 Toho-published Japanese DVD release of Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), alongside information and artwork for her scrapped opponents Bagan and Gigamoth. Other concepts for the larva and adult forms can be viewed in Shinji Nishikawa: Drawing Book of Godzilla (ISBN: 480030959X).
• A number of Mothra's poses from in the PlayStation 3/4 game Godzilla seem highly reminiscent to the flexible nature of this unused iteration of Mothra, though this may have also been coincidental.
• When designing Mothra, Shinji Nishikawa shied away from using the monster's traditional body structure. Instead of Mothra's head and thorax being like circles, he "streamlined" the two so that they connected together smoothly. The antenna were also made fuzzier and longer. As a result, this made Mothra's form closer to that of moths than of butterflies, much like how the original Mothra used the silkworm moth as its motif.
  
  As for the larval form, Nishikawa's sketches have it sporting various patterns and different placements for the eyes, having been inspired by silkworm larva. While the body patterns would go unused on Mothra Larva in 1992, they would prove influencial for Battra Larva. Further information and sketches can be found in Shinji Nishikawa Design Works (ISBN: 4768311504).