"Alice In Wonderland, a two-part TV movie starring Natalie Gregory."

Film and TV productions across the years

TV SPECIAL PRODUCED BY IRWIN ALLEN IN 1985

On a soundstage in Los Angeles stood many powerful stars who, in the name of creative control and artistic integrity, had exercised ego's force with impunity over the years. They had come together to be supporting players in the two-part “Alice in Wonderland,” a TV-movie built around a 9-year-old star, Natalie Gregory.
Anthony Newley

It was not at all a production where these hefty Egos could fill the screen and shine incandescently. The luminaries, who together represented the largest starring cast in the history of prime-time dramatic television, included Carol Channing, Sammy Davis Jr., Karl Maiden, Jack Warden, Telly Savalas, Ringo Starr, Jonathan Winters, Ernest Borgnine,

Shelley Winters, Robert Morley, Pat Morita, Lloyd Bridges, Beau Bridges, Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Red Buttons, John Stamos, Scott Baio, Patrick Duffy, Sherman Hemsley, Steve Lawrence, Eydie Gorme, Anthony Newley, Steve Allen, Jayne Meadows, Roddy McDowall, Ann Jillian, Sally Struthers and Merv Griffin.
Among them were many Emmys and reputations for perfection, power and petulance. Surely, the time would come when the Egos would rise up against the producer and director, raving, “Off with their heads!” or some Hollywood equivalent, such as “You'll never work with me in this town again.” The early days of production did nothing to deter the doubters.

When Shelley Winters, the Dodo Bird, arrived to do her scene, she did not know her lines. Neither the producer nor the director had the temerity to point this out, quite content, as it were, to pretend that the Empress still wore clothes. But 9-year-old Natalie, who always came prepared and knew this woman only as an older actress who had had a bit part in Shelley Winters

"The Poseidon Adventure," finally tired of the charade and, during rehearsal, began whispering lines to Winters.
     Winters half-snapped at the child: "You don't have to do that. I know my lines."
    "Then why don't you say them?" replied the little girl coolly.
    An electric silence followed.

The actress sat stone-faced, - talking to no one, as wardrobe fussed with her costume. Then a strange thing happened. Gradually, Winters took notice of her new self, her fuzzy limbs, her bird-like features, old her exotic colors, and she laughed. She turned around to show off her costume and muttered something to herself, giggling. She told a joke. She played with Natalie. She made a strange sound that may have been a bird-call. She jumped around in the Dodo Bird suit and flapped her wings. This was playtime; this was the best Halloween costume on the block.
Karl Malden

It's hard to take one-self seriously in a Dodo Bird costume. Complaining about camera angles and lighting does not come to mind while parading around as a walrus or a talking flower. Instead, there was much giggling and horseplay, and if someone in the cast made a mistake, a chorus of childlike snickers and cackles arose.
Many of the cast members had never worked together before, did not know each other, but they giggled just the same: Hollywood decorum had no place inside the costumes. The truth, though no one but a 9-year-old dared say it, was that you did not see much of Imogene Coca or Sid Caesar any more. Television had effectively jettisoned most older stars, except that Irwin Allen, producer of "Wonderland," had brought them back to star alongside the young and the venerated. Red Buttons (the White Rabbit) and Arte Johnson (the Dormouse) huddled with Anthony Newley (the Mad Hatter), and the ritual swapping of old stories began.

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