Let's Be Honest
I don't know about the majority of the people here, but when I first saw this overblown, horribily acted version of "Alice in Wonderland" I knew why it was made-for-TV and not done for the big screen.
The costumes for the most part were embarrisingly cheesy and made most of the actors look silly. Donald O'Connor, Telly Savalas, and Ernest Borgnine all looked embarrassed wearing those ridiculous costumes. They should've spent more money better costumes.
Some of Steve Allen's 'whimiscal tunes' were goofy and rather unnecessary. The movie would've worked better with less musical numbers. The best was of course seeing Sammy Davis Jr. tap dance with Natalie Gregory.
And the casting? Irwin Allen always went with 'big names' for his projects. He has Shelley Winters, Donald O'Connor, Carol Channing, Borgnine, Red Buttons, Roddy McDowell, Beau Bridges and Martha Raye (among others). But then, low and behold he drops TV personalities like John Stamos, Sherman Helmsley, Scott Baio and Pat Morita into the mix...very strange. The production must've had some contractual obligations to the television network to use those actors? Going from Academy,and Tony Award winners to run-of-the-mill sitcom actors is peculiar.