I thought that they were aiming more for Harry Potter, to tell the truth. LOTR is such a dark and mature story, whereas HP and CON are much more deceptively kid-oriented. LOTR is dark and gloomy, whereas CON and the first part of HP deal with much lighter material. I thought that TLTWATW had the same sort of vibe as E.T. in that it tried to put childhood into the context of something fantastical. Disney's presence was surprisingly rather sparse in places as compared to their interference in other works. There are six more films for the franchise to find its voice, but I think that Adamson was aiming much for the charm of a Ray Harrhausen picture or The Thief of Bagdad than LOTR or HP.