Busch to Buy Rights to Films About Shamu

Anheuser-Busch Cos., which last month bought the Sea World theme parks, agreed to pay $6 million to the San Diego-based partnership of Watson General Pictures and Lion’s Den Productions to end a licensing agreement and to obtain rights to a half-hour television special and a planned feature film starring Shamu, the killer whale.

Under the terms of the agreement, which is subject to approval by Watson General shareholders, Watson General would be reimbursed $1.5 million for production costs, plus 75% of the remaining $4.5 million.

Lion’s Den, which produced the animated television special titled “Shamu. . .The Beginning” and created a story board and script for the feature film, will receive $1.1 million. The half-hour animated special has yet to be aired.

The joint venture agreed to sell outright its interest in the feature film. But it will retain 50% of net proceeds from any sales, exhibitions, distribution or remake of the TV feature, including videocassette sales. The agreement also gave the joint venture a 10% royalty on any proceeds received by Sea World for merchandise using the cartoon’s characters sold by licensees outside the amusement parks.

The license giving the joint venture the right to produce films using the character of Shamu dates back to 1985, when Sea World was owned by the publishing giant Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. In 1988, the licensing agreement was amended to give Sea World a financial interest in the projects in exchange for about $200,000 in funding toward their completion.

W. Randolph Baker, president of Busch Entertainment Corp., a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch Cos., said through a spokesman that Sea World’s relinquishing of some rights to the potentially lucrative characters was considered when Anheuser-Busch bought the Sea World parks and two other Florida tourist attractions last month for $1.1 billion.

Anheuser-Busch terminated the licensing arrangement with the joint venture because it wanted “full creative and business control over animation development, licensing and all other uses of Shamu trademarks,” Baker said. Busch Entertainment executives will wait until they review the television special before deciding whether to release it, he added.

Charles Watson, president of Watson General, did not return phone calls. The company’s financial adviser, Rulon Jenson, said the publicly held company’s board of directors is confident that the agreement will win shareholders’ approval.