Hey Arnold!: The Movie - Plot

Plot

Arnold and Gerald and their friends are walking back to the boarding house after being beaten by 5th graders at a basketball game. On the way, they see several of their neighbors making a fuss about something, and learn that a man named Scheck, the CEO of a real estate company called Future Tech Industries (FTi) wants to buy all of the properties in Arnold's neighborhood so that he can convert it into a futuristic shopping mall. According to the news, the mayor is already approving plans for the mall, meaning that Arnold’s neighborhood (33rd to 39th street) will be destroyed and everyone who lives there will have to move away. The neighbors state that they should do something about this.

During the night, Helga discovers that her father, Big Bob Pataki, is working with a Future Tech Industries executive Nick Vermicelli (who had worked with Big Bob in an earlier episode). Big Bob is revealed to be planning to build a store in Scheck's mall called Big Bob's Super Beeper Emporium. Helga points out to her father that people are going to suffer if he builds his store. However, Big Bob counters by saying that if they leave the neighborhood alone, his store will not exist. He also insists that change is good (as does Scheck at various times in the film) and that the Pataki family will be wealthy and able to buy anything if they open the store.

Arnold hosts a protest rally against FTi. However, their permit is stolen by Scheck’s employees, so the protest is subsequently declared illegal, and Arnold's grandmother is jailed for being hostile to the police suppressing the protest rally. She tries escaping from jail, but she is continually thwarted. Two days away from demolition, Gerald tells Arnold to stop looking on the bright side of things and that they can not always win, though Arnold is unwilling to accept it.

As the residents of the boarding house begin packing their belongings, Grandpa Phil tells Arnold the history of the boarding house, stating that his ancestors first built it in the 1700s and that the neighborhood was the site of the "Tomato Incident" (a parody of the Boston Tea Party) during the American Revolutionary War. The residents at that time were angry over the increase in British taxes for tomatoes, so they fought the British soldiers by hitting them with the tomatoes, sending them running. Arnold then realizes that if he can find a document containing proof that the event happened, then the neighborhood would qualify as a National Historic Landmark and cannot be demolished. With Gerald reluctantly accompanying him, the pair discover that a document pertaining to the event (and other historical memorabilia) was auctioned to a collector, who turns out to be none other than Scheck himself, though he denies ownership of the document when Arnold and Gerald confront him.

As the boys are about to give up hope, a street telephone rings, with someone mysterious named “Deep Voice” tells them that Scheck is lying and that the document is hidden in his vault, and that a key to the vault is possessed by Vermicelli. The voice directs them to a woman named Bridget who provides them with gadgets to sneak the key away from Vermicelli. After Arnold and Gerald manage to steal the key, Big Bob, having read the fine print of his contract, finds that Scheck had taken control of 51% of his company in exchange for the right to build his beeper emporium. He confronts Vermicelli and the two of them fight, with Vermicelli winning. Vermicelli then realizes that the key is gone and alerts Scheck.

Meanwhile, Phil and the men at the boarding house are trying to develop a backup plan just in case Arnold fails to get the document. They have several ideas, but fight on their weaknesses. However, Phil develops an ingenious plan: they will wire the Storm drain tunnels beneath their street with dynamite. Igniting the dynamite will blow a huge hole in the ground, disrupting Future Tech Industries and its workers from trying to demolish the town.

Arnold and Gerald then infiltrate FTi Headquarters and locate the vault, but the document is missing. Scheck appears from behind them with the document in his hand. He reveals that his ancestor, who was the leader of the British forces, was humiliated by the Tomato Incident. For generations, Scheck's family had been planning on regaining control of the city and getting revenge against the boarders. To start off, Scheck burns the document to ensure that his plans will go without question, much to Arnold and Gerald's dismay. Scheck then calls his bodyguards to arrest Arnold and Gerald, but they manage to escape and split up. Arnold then remembers that Scheck has cameras everywhere and manages to get a video of Scheck burning the document pertaining its contents. However, security forces arrive, forcing Arnold to hide on the roof.

He is then contacted by Deep Voice, who is then revealed to be Helga, who confesses her romantic feelings for Arnold. They escape the building and meet Gerald on a city bus. The bus driver, Murray, is unwilling to increase the bus's speed until he realizes that his girlfriend Mona lives near Arnold’s neighborhood and that she would also be evicted by FTi. Back in the neighborhood, Phil and the gang are waiting with their explosives for FTi to begin demolishing the neighborhood, but Big Bob, who was in the area, discovers their plan. Although Big Bob states the gang could do some serious jail time for such a radical plan, he decides to help them out with it because of Scheck and Vermicelli's betrayal against him.

Despite the attempts of Vermicelli’s workers to delay them of getting back to the neighborhood, Murray (who is unconscious at the time) and the kids make it. Back in the neighborhood, Grandma Gertie (who has finally escaped from jail) hijacks one of the demolition team's bulldozers and destroys the rest. Soon, the hijacked bulldozer and the city bus that Arnold and the kids are on are set to collide. Gertie escapes before they hit, and the kids and Murray materialize unharmed as well. Mayor Dixie arrives to the scene and Bridget gives Arnold a VCR to show a recording of Scheck burning the crucial document. Bridget connects the VCR to the big FTi screen, and Arnold explains the images to Mayor Dixie, who then declares the neighborhood a National Historic Landmark, much to everyone's delight.

Eventually, Scheck arrives, demanding his workers to demolish the neighborhood, but they refuse, angrily pointing to the incriminating evidence shown on the screen. Phil and the enraged citizens then gang around Scheck, who then tries to escape in his car, but Gertie has stripped his car of its wheels. Scheck is arrested and taken to prison, swearing vengenace on Arnold, Gerald, and Helga for foiling his plans. Following Scheck's arrest, Vermicelli attempts to escape, only to be punched in the face by Big Bob for his betrayal. Arnold’s neighbor Harold, who was woken up by an attempt by Vermicelli's men to delay Arnold's group, sits down on the activation device that ignites Phil’s explosives by accident. The explosives beneath the streets ignite, destroying only the FTi billboard. Phil and the boarders run away from the police as Helga talks to Arnold. She denies having loved him and runs cheerfully as Eugene sings a song about the neighborhood being saved while restoration work at the neighborhood begins.