- T.J. and the gang must save summer vacation from disappearing forever.
- It's the most exciting time of year at Third Street Elementary, the last day of school. But boredom quickly sets in for protagonist T.J. Detweiler as his five best friends are all heading for various summer camps. One day, while passing by the school on his bike, he notices a green glow coming from the auditorium. This is the work of the insidious former principal Dr. Phillium Benedict and his henchmen. He is planning to get rid of summer vacation using his newly acquired Tractor Beam, which he stole from the US Military Base in an effort to raise US Test Scores, and it's up to the T.J. and the gang to stop him. In the end, they, along with the help from all the other students, Principal Prickly, Ms. Finster, and the teachers, destroy the laser, Dr. Benedict and his henchmen are arrested, and T.J.'s best friends decide to spend their summer with him.—FREAKAZOID!
- T.J. Detweiler and his five best friends have finally at long last finished fourth grade at Third Street Elementary. But boredom quickly sets in as they leave for various summer camps when T.J. uncovers an evil plot to do away with summer vacation. A crazy former principal named Dr. Phillium Benedict, is planning to use a laser beam that he stole from the US Military Base to alter the weather and create permanent winter. Naturally, T.J. rallies his best friends together and they conspire to fight the wicked Dr. Benedict. But it turns out that he is so strict that he wants to change the Moon's orbit in order to put the nation in a constant freeze, thus putting an end to summer vacation and creating a year-round school year. It's now up to T.J. and the gang to save summer vacation for kids all over the world.—Anthony Pereyra <hypersonic91@yahoo.com>
- Now officially finished with fourth grade, T.J. and his best friends are ready for an amazing summer. Unfortunately for him, they're all going away to various summer camps leaving him all by himself. But his loneliness is cut short when he discovers that some weird happenings are going on at the school. When Principal Prickly suddenly gets dematerialized, T.J. rounds up the gang to uncover the truth about the weirdness at the school. What they discover is a sinister plot to destroy summer vacation by an insidious former principal. Now it's up to T.J., the gang, and a few unlikely allies such as Ms. Finster, to save the world from becoming schooled year-round.—Blazer346
- The most popular show on "Disney's One Saturday Morning" television line-up makes its big-screen debut. School is out T.J. and the gang heads in separate directions: Vince to baseball camp, Mikey to music camp, Gretchen to space camp, Gus to military camp, and Spinelli to professional wrestling camp. Only T.J. is left at home, and he's bored. That is until he discovers that Dr. Phillium Benedict is using Third Street Elementary in a plot to alter the Moon's orbit, freeze Earth, and eliminate summer vacation, or as T.J. calls it, "The biggest recess of all." With help from his sister, Becky, he gathers the gang and attempts to foil Dr. Benedict's evil scheme.—denislightyear
- It's already the final day of school at Third Street, but T.J. is upset because his friends have all decided to go to various camps to plan for their futures. T.J. unhappily rides around town, doing things by himself. He even very reluctantly agrees to hang out with the school snitch Randall. On his way there, he notices something going on at the school. T.J. sneaks inside and finds scientists using a tractor beam to levitate a safe. Panicked, he tries to tell his parents and the police, but they do not listen. When he gets Principal Prickly to come to see what's going on, he is electrocuted and Dematerialized just as he attempts to unlock and open the door, leaving only his shoes behind as evidence. T.J. is now frustrated because his parents won't listen and neither will the police. He decides he has to round up the gang and uses his sister Becky's diary to blackmail her into driving him to all the camps to pick up his friends.
T.J. and his friends steal a box of documents, but filled with no information. T.J's friends then accuse him of making up an idea just to bring them back. T.J. tells them he really did see Prickly disappear, but Gus points out that Prickly had just got into a car and driven off. The five are about to head back to their camps when they see the tractor beam come out of the school and shoot out a green laser, agreeing with T.J. that something is strange going on in the school. The gang have a stakeout at T.J.'s tree-house and enjoy eating snacks and singing a song they first heard after they were in Kindergarten. The next day, T.J. finds Prickly's golf pants in a dumpster and also sees the bald guy he saw guarding the school pull off a mask of Principal Prickly's face, showing that this was indeed him pretending to be Prickly when Gus pointed out the other Prickly getting into a car.
The gang finds a note in the pocket of Prickly's golf pants saying "HELP ME!" on it; this makes T.J. and his friends decide to break into the school to save him. Randall eavesdrops on this and informs assistant teacher Miss Finster, who then plans to catch the gang trying to break into the school. While there, they are caught spying by the guards and are forced to flee, an act witnessed by a shocked Randall and Finster, who then wonders what exactly is going on in the school. T.J., on the other hand, is captured and is put in a storage room where he finds the real Prickly, all tied up in thick ropes to a chair and his mouth gagged. The bald guy's boss named Dr. Phillium Benedict enters the room to interrogate them. After Benedict leaves, Prickly reveals that he and Benedict were best friends. He also stated that Miss Finster used to date Benedict. Prickly then explains his story, back in the spring of 1968, Benedict became the principal of Third Street School. During a private conversation with Prickly, Benedict showed him that he had intended a move to abolish recess as a way to improve test grades. Needless to say, Benedict's plan didn't go well, as it was met with a protest of angry parents. Since Benedict refused the parents' plea to reinstate recess, Prickly went to the superintendent as a means of convincing Benedict to change his mind. Despite the superintendent assuring the parents that Benedict's no-recess policy will not be put into motion, Benedict refuses to back down, which then caused the superintendent to demote him and promote Prickly to principal. Shocked, Benedict accuses Prickly for taking his job, which then caused a disgusted Finster to break off her relationship with Benedict for his hatred of recess. Upset, Benedict quit his job as a teacher, swearing vengeance on him. Later on, Prickly says Benedict went into politics and became Secretary of Education, only to be fired by the President when he tried to abolish recess nationwide.
Using the vent ducts, T.J. and Prickly head to Prickly's office, where T.J. finds his Walkie-Talkie that Prickly had confiscated from him last week and tells his friends Benedict wants to destroy summer vacation after seeing painted graffiti on his wall, indicating so. However, T.J. and Prickly are caught by the bald guy again before T.J. could explain further. T.J. friends then try to get the police into the case, but just like T.J., they end up being laughed at. Even Finster tried to voice her objections over what's happening in the school, only for the policemen to laugh at her, much to her rage (Saying they should contact Jackie Chan). T.J.'s friends go through the box of documents again. Spinelli finds a date book that says lunar perigee (which happens to be 12:22 the next afternoon) on it; Gretchen deduces that Benedict is trying to move the moon's orbit via tractor beam when it is closest to the Earth, which as a result, will create a new Ice Age. Benedict reveals to T.J. and Prickly that his ultimate plan is to put the world in an eternal state of winter so that kids will be forced inside to study year round.
T.J.'s friends get Becky to drive to the camps again, where they pick up all the children. Gus draws up the plans to attack the school. T.J. and Prickly escape the cage that Benedict has imprisoned them in, as Prickly swiped up the keys when Benedict wasn't even looking. Gus' plan works, and he, Vince, and Spinelli throw water balloons at the guards, causing them and the ninjas to chase the three of them through the school. Some of the guards chase Vince, but the Ashleys trip the guards with a rope and confine them in a net. Some other guards chase Gus, but the leaders of recess and the soldiers from his camp pummel them with balls. The ninjas chase Spinelli, but the kindergartners attack them back. After reuniting with T.J. and Prickly, the kids storm the auditorium, only for another set of guards to restrain them as Benedict prepares to pull the lever. However, Finster arrives to the rescue, bringing the teachers and staff as an army to help stop Benedict for good. A battle ensues between Benedict's men and the students and staff. During the battle, the bald guy tries to attack T.J. in the face for bathing him in corn chowder, but Finster knocks him out for good. Prickly then punches Benedict in the face to stop him from triggering the beam, but as Benedict slumps, he triggers the beam and Prickly cannot deactivate it. T.J. tosses his old baseball (the one he found earlier while trying to recover his Walkie-Talkie) to Vince, whose accurate aim destroys the device, much to everyone's delight. Following the aftermath of the battle in the school, T.J. and his friends are declared heroes while Benedict and his men are captured by the police for both theft and attempted terrorism.
T.J.'s friends inform him they intend to spend the rest of their summer with him, and T.J. gives Becky her diary back to thank her. T.J. then rushes into Prickly's office to thank him, only to be thanked back by Prickly for reminding him of why he went into teaching in the first place: to help kids. As T.J. starts to leave with his friends, Prickly warns him: "But don't forget- come September, you're mine! I haven't forgotten that "saggy butt" comment!". T.J. tells him September is a long way off. The film ends with T.J. and his friends rushing off to the lake whilst Prickly looks on, smiling.
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