In 1999, NBC aired a $21 million-budgeted, all-star adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland,” featuring such names as Ben Kingsley, Whoopi Goldberg, Christopher Lloyd, Miranda Richardson, Gene Wilder, Joanna Lumley, and Donald Sinden. Though the script did the usual mashing up of elements from “Through the Looking Glass” that Hollywood versions tend to do, the visual aesthetic hewed more closely to John Tenniel’s classic illustrations than most, with such touches as Martin Short’s head getting upsized for the part of the Mad Hatter.
In the lead role of Alice, surrounded by Hollywood and English stage A-listers, was Tina Majorino.
A new wrinkle to the plot had Alice initially terrified to sing in front of an audience; her adventures in Wonderland after she flees the scene help to cure her of her stage fright, and in the end, she goes ahead with the performance. Majorino had been a trained singer since the age of 7, but her go-to roles as children of broken homes hadn’t generally called upon that talent. This time, she had songs on the soundtrack.
“Alice in Wonderland” won four Emmy awards, for costume design, visual effects, makeup, and music composition. Arguably Majorino’s biggest and greatest role up to that point, it would also be her last for a while.
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