On a rwd car disconnecting the driveshaft would prob be easy but not on a fwd car that most people tow behind stuff now. I have towed lots of cars with manual transmissions and usually the way I do it is on a rwd if the oil fill plug on the case is high enough the output shaft is getting some oil on it's gears then I don't worry about it. On a fwd car I have never bothered to check since the ring gear always slings oil when the car is moving.
It works for a briggs and stratton engine so it should work for a transmission
I have never towed an automatic with the engine off though. I have towed one for hours at 65mph with the engine idling and the trans in N though. I would check the manual that came with the car to find out how fast and how far you can coast with the engine off without damage. The speed is prob faster than most people here drive and the distance is much farther than you can coast before you start the engine and drive it back up to speed.
Only transmissions I have had die are a ford aod and my metro trans lost a bolt on the shifter mechanism once. So I have had pretty good luck on not blowing them up that often except on my jeep and it blows a transmission along with pretty much all of the drivetrain pretty regular.