On the last day of school before summer vacation, Spanky [Jet Jurgensmeyer], Alfalfa [Bug Hall], Mary Ann [Jenna Ortega], and Stymie [Connor Berry] are determined to slip out early. They enlist Buckwheat [Isaiah Fredericks] and Porky to tell Miss Crabtree why they need to go home, hoping to dodge one last surprise for the class. Miss Crabtree [Valerie Azlynn] agrees to let them leave, unknowingly stepping out of her own plans for a surprise ice cream cake party. The four friends rush off toward Grandma Larson’s bakery, where they bump into Officer Kennedy [Lex Medlin], who is dating Miss Crabtree, sparking a playful curiosity about whether he’ll ever pop the question.
In a bid to showcase their talents, the kids form The International Silver String Submarine Band. They set their sights on performing Sonny & Cher’s I Got You Babe for a big talent show, but their rehearsal starts off croaky and far from polished. Alfalfa suggests a rescue mission: invite Darla [Eden Wood] to sing the song with him, hoping her voice can lift the act to success. Meanwhile, Grandma visits the local bank to sort out a troubling debt, and she leaves the children in charge of her bakery—an arrangement that quickly becomes chaotic when they’re tasked with baking a red velvet cake but overdo the yeast, causing a dramatic inflating mishap in the kitchen.
A bank officer reveals a looming problem: Grandma owes $10,000, and if the money isn’t paid within two weeks, she could lose the bakery. To make matters more urgent, Waldo Kaye’s father plans to buy the bakery and replace it with a shopping mall, and Waldo himself wants the kids’ tree house for his own. This double threat sharpens the kids’ resolve to find a solution, and Waldo’s schemes add a layer of tension as he inadvertently triggers the burglar alarm.
Spanky proposes that the gang earn money by taking real jobs to save Grandma’s bakery. They sample several professional gigs but are turned away at each turn. Spanky and Alfalfa land gigs as caddies at the local country club, only to be fired after a mishap that incurs Officer Kennedy’s ire during a date interruption. Undeterred, Spanky suggests a pet-washing business, which spirals into chaos when a bottle of shampoo is swapped with a green-dye variant, turning Darla’s cat and other pets an unfortunate shade of green. To compensate, Alfalfa offers Darla a ride to the library on his bicycle, but she ends up choosing Waldo’s flashy toy car, nudging Spanky to invent their own taxi service.
The makeshift taxi venture also misfires when Waldo cuts the brake wires, sending the car careening down a hill and into a gazebo. Darla, who had been riding with Alfalfa, once again chooses Waldo, deepening the rift between Alfalfa and the rest of the group. Officer Kennedy’s dates with Miss Crabtree remain a recurring source of friction, leading Miss Crabtree to question their relationship and eventually prompting the breakup when it seems the couple can’t find a steady balance amid the kids’ chaos.
Spanky’s leadership comes under strain as the gang contemplates a more hands-on plan: Alfalfa should step into the wrestling ring against the mysterious Masked Marvel. Porky is slated to be Alfalfa’s opponent, but Waldo miscommunicates the plan and hires Butch [Chase Vacnin] and Woim [Rio Mangini] to derail Alfalfa’s victory. Butch fills Porky’s role in the ring and defeats Alfalfa with surprising ease. In a moment of mixed judgment, Waldo compels Spanky to bet the money earned from the match on the outcome, leaving the rest of the gang wary and disillusioned with their leader’s command.
A family talk with Grandma helps Spanky regain his footing, and the gang reconciles, understanding that their bond matters more than any single plan. They return their focus to the talent show, hoping to save Grandma’s bakery and prove that teamwork can overcome wealthier rivals. Miss Crabtree agrees to continue dating Officer Kennedy on the condition that he attends the talent show with her, which he does reluctantly.
The night of the show arrives, and the kids face a lineup of professional acts alongside their own vulnerable act. Waldo and Darla perform a routine that repeatedly tries to push Darla out of the spotlight, but she refuses to quit and ultimately steps forward to sing with Alfalfa. The duo pours heart into their performance, and the band’s rendition of I Got You Babe begins rough but slowly improves, buoyed by Darla’s dramatic return to the stage. The crowd cheers as the group finds their rhythm, and Grandma’s bakery is saved by the end of the show.
In a satisfying turn, the team clinches the $10,000 prize, Darla officially joins the band (and becomes Alfalfa’s love interest), Grandma’s bakery is secured for the future, and Miss Crabtree agrees to marry Officer Kennedy. As the credits roll, a final misstep with Waldo’s celebratory “tree house” gift hints at Wall Street-sized dreams: a throne-room mansion gift that shatters to dust when Waldo tries to christen it himself, leaving his father to quip that perhaps the receipt was the real gift all along.
