The only scuttlebutt I heard regarding the promotion had to do with Disney's deal with McDonalds ... Apparently McDonalds' happy meal promotional slate was such that they only had one slot open that year, and Disney was contractually obliged to tie its movies in with McDonalds, so the movie was released right between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and got completely drowned. ... Or at least, had whatever potential audience it had stripped away by the competition. I don't know how well it would have done on its own; contrary to LJ belief it had a lot of problems.