Nastiness Is Not a Fantasy In Movie Theme Park War

HALLANDALE, Fla., Aug. 12— When officials at Universal Studios heard that the Walt Disney Company had ordered three day care centers here to destroy unauthorized murals of Mickey Mouse and his pals, they were ecstatic.

Universal rushed a team of artists to Hallandale this week. They gladly painted over Mickey and Pluto and Snow White, and in their place, to the cheers of local children, the artists drew Woody Woodpecker, Fred Flintstone, George Jetson and a host of other cartoon characters owned by Universal and its associate, Hanna-Barbera.

It was the latest blow in a corporate war between Disney and Universal. It is a war fought on the plain of public relations, a nasty feud in which no blow seems too low and hundreds of millions of dollars could be at stake. Park vs. Park

The war grows out of a confrontation of Florida theme parks. In May, Disney opened its $500 million 135-acre Disney-MGM Studios park near Orlando, featuring attractions based on Hollywood and the movies. Next spring, Universal, in association with Hanna-Barbera, is to open its $500 million 444-acre Hollywood movie theme park, in Orlando.

Whether out of genuine anger or a calculated strategy to damage Disney's stock in trade, its image of fairy tales and sweet innocence, Universal seems intent on getting out the word that Mickey Mouse is really a dirty rat.

Some Universal executives charge that Disney stole some of their ideas for the park. And they argue that Disney is using its dominance of the Orlando area to hinder Universal's efforts to open its own park. Disney, with 30,000 workers the area's largest employer, has over the last two decades almost singlehandedly built Orlando into a major tourist spot that draws more than 15 million visitors a year. It has the Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center and now the movie theme park in its Walt Disney World operations there.

Disney executives say Universal is just jealous. They say Universal officials are desperate because Disney beat them and opened its park first. And they say Universal knows it will be always be an afterthought, the ''other'' attraction, in Orlando. Disney's presence is so great that its $1.47 billion in assessed property accounts for 8 percent of Orange County's real estate tax base. Winning an Advantage

The dispute is not just a local one. Wall Street analysts say whoever wins the battle of the movie theme parks in Orlando could gain the advantage in building similar parks elsewhere in the world, though they add that winning is more important for Universal because Disney can always fall back on its worldwide reputation for entertainment parks.

''The one that wins Orlando wins the world,'' said Jay S. Stein, the president of recreational services for MCA Inc., the parent company of Universal.

The parks will be remarkably similar, including rides that duplicate natural disasters like earthquakes and rides that put visitors into the middle of movie scenes being ''acted'' by lifelike dummies. In addition, both include behind-the-scenes looks at how movies are made, including stunts and special effects.

Universal, which created the original movie theme park with its highly successful Universal Studios tour in California, says that Michael D. Eisner was shown the plans for its Florida park before he became chairman of Disney and that he has since borrowed some of the ideas for the Disney park.

As a result, Mr. Stein said, ''We've had to change the concepts from our original plan.''

Mr. Stein argues that in 1987 Disney announced it would build a $600 million tourist attraction near Universal in California as a way of making Universal hesitate about going ahead with its Florida park. Disney has since abandoned the California plan.

In addition, some Universal executives maintain that Disney is pressuring county tourism officials to make sure that when the travel industry brings 3,500 people to the Orlando area next year for its convention, the visitors are kept away from Universal's movie park. The officials, not wanting to get involved in the feud, declined to comment.

Disney officials dismiss Universal's charges as insulting. They say that Mr. Eisner never saw plans for the Universal park and that Disney has been considering a movie theme park since the 1950's. They also say they are so successful they have no need to pressure Florida tourism officials to slight Universal. Indeed, the Disney-MGM park has been doing so well, drawing up to 25,000 people a day at $29 a head for adults, that Disney has announced plans to double the size of the park. 'Sands of Fantasy'

''Universal's arguments are built totally on sands of fantasy,'' said Erwin Okun, Disney's senior vice president for corporate communications. ''They have been planning their park since 1981. Now we have opened ours quite successfully, and I think they are, right now, sucking on particularly sour grapes.''

Disney's strategy for its movie park's success is the same as for its whole 28,000-acre operation here: lure tourists to Disney World and then provide them with hotels, stores, restaurants and so much entertainment that they never venture out to any of Orlando's other attractions. Universal's strategy is to let Disney lure the tourists to Orlando, then inundate them with so much advertising here - billboards, for example - that their curiosity is piqued and they desert Disney for a few hours to visit Universal.

The war may depend on a battle of the movies. Universal is counting on the lure of attractions based on blockbuster Universal hits like ''Jaws,'' ''E.T.'' and ''Back to the Future.'' It is also counting on the draw of the director Steven Spielberg, who was a consultant on some attractions.

Disney, through deals with other studios, like Paramount and MGM, is relying on movies like ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,'' ''Star Wars'' and ''The Wizard of Oz.''

Cartoon characters from Disney and Hanna-Barbera also will be staples of the themes at the respective parks.

The Orlando area includes an array of other attractions, like Sea World, that manage to coexist with Disney. But whether there is room for two movie theme parks remains to be seen.

Right now much of the corporate war is fought through public relations. That is why even such seemingly minor events as the dispute at the Hallandale day care centers more than 200 miles from Orlando is receiving inordinate attention.

Disney admits that it suffered a minor setback in that one. But it says it has to enforce its copyright or its characters will enter the public domain, free for anyone to use without cost. In addition, it says, it does not want the use of its characters to imply that Disney has investigated and given its approval to a particular establishment, especially one as critical as a day care center.

''Given the success of our theme park, the nursery schools are a pyrrhic victory for Universal,'' Mr. Okun of Disney said. '' It's a drop in the bucket. We are not the ones desperate for publicity for our characters.''

Mr. Stein of MCA said: ''We're not afraid of Disney. We're ready to take them on.''

This week, the Mayor of Hallandale, Gilbert Stein, who is not related to Mr. Stein of MCA, presented Universal and Hanna-Barbera with the keys to the city at a ceremony. ''I am canceling my membership in the Mickey Mouse Club,'' he said.

And in a shot at Disney that left Universal executives beaming, he concluded with Fred Flintstone's trademark shout of joy: ''Yabba-dabba-doo!''

Photos of cartoon characters Mickey Mouse and George Jetson (pg. 1); mural depicting Mickey Mouse in Hallandale, Fla., at a day care center that was not authorized by Disney (NYT/Susan Greenwood) (pg. 22)