Revealing mistake: When the Chairman is watching the TV screen where Damien Drake is being interrogated, the man steps in front of the screen and says "he's about to crack," then he walks backwards as if being pulled, but you can tell the moment Damien puts his legs around him, after several steps. So what pulled him back?
Revealing mistake: Throughout the movie, in Steve Martin's close-ups, you can see the line where his wig is.
Revealing mistake: In Africa, DJ and his group ride with Tweety and Sylvester an obviously Indian elephant (much smaller than the African one).
Revealing mistake: In the scene where the ACME Chairman turns on the screen to show Damien Drake tied up, you can see he has no remote in his hands and is just miming the action.
Answer: It's hard to nail down exactly why, but I think it was a combination of a few factors. The biggest of which was that it was released within a week of three other high-profile family films, including the surprise sleeper hit "Elf." It simply had fierce competition. It was also known at the time that the film had a somewhat troubled production, which could have impacted audience perception. I think it's also worth noting that, on the whole, Looney Tunes theatrical films tend not to draw huge box office numbers. "Space Jam" was their only real hit out of four theatrical films. One could argue that the popularity of Michael Jordan in the sporting world is what gave "Space Jam" a leg up over the other Looney Tunes films, as he brought in a wider audience.
TedStixon