[First lines; The movie begins with we see the city's locations and Harold, Iggy and Lorenzo are playing baseball before Willie drives with his ice cream truck; A kid is giving money to Willie, having his ice cream and Willie reads the newspaper; Harold throws a baseball to Park; Park strikes out and the woman is at the window looks up to a baseball while putting clothes in the basket; we see Brainy and Harvey are at the market, Sid and Stinky are splashing water, the Construction Workers look up at the helicopter with a black wrecking ball; as the wrecking ball hits the Penthouses and pouring liquid on the family photo]
Gerald Johanssen I'm telling you, Arnold, your ball is flat.
It's not flat. It's just a little low on air. [The ball pops and deflates]
Gerald Johanssen Like I said, your ball is flat. Hey, I still can't believe we let those fifth graders beat us.
Well, the important thing is we tried our best.
Gerald Johanssen The important thing is we got our buns whooped.
Come on Gerald, we had fun. And we almost beat 'em.
Gerald Johanssen Why do you do that Arnold? Why do you always have to look on the bright side?
Somebody has to. [Arnold and Gerald notice FTi helicopters, and a crowd of citizens] Mr. Green, what's going on?
G Mr. Green
It's Scheck. He wants to buy up the whole neighborhood so he can knock it down and put up a fancy mall.
Who's Scheck? [The crowd is watching TV]
R Reporter
[On TV]
The plan, which was approved by the mayor just moments ago, would allow Future Tech Industries to redevelop a six-square-block area between 33rd and 39th Streets. Oh, I understand the president and CEO of Future Tech Industries, Mr. Scheck, is about to make a statement.
[On TV; first words as to the mayor]
Thank you. I just want to say I'm delighted at the mayor's support of our renewal plan.
Gerald Johanssen Nice suit.
MD Mayor Dixie
[A man with a white mustache shushes him] [on TV]
I am behind Mr. Scheck's project one hundred percent. [camera flashes]
[on TV]
Although some of you in the affected area may have concerns about how this plan will impact your homes and businesses, let me assure you; change is good. This plan represents the end of urban decay, the end of your broken-down shops and apartment buildings, the end of antiquated and dilapidated storefronts. It's time for a new world. Out with the old, in with the new.
What's wrong with old things? Some old things are great.
HB Harold Berman
Yeah, like Mrs. Vitello.
V Mrs. Vitello
[hits Harold over the head with flowers]
Whippersnapper.
G Mr. Green
This has been goin' on for months. The city council recommended against it, but the mayor's lettin' him do it anyway. I never figured he could pull it off.
Gerald Johanssen What does it mean?
G Mr. Green
It means they want us to sell out, move away so this Scheck character and his big corporation can move in.
[on TV]
It's time to put the past behind us. I have seen the future, and it's Future Tech Industries.
PH Phoebe Heyerdahl
But this is our neighborhood!
RL Rhonda Lloyd
They can't just tear it down.
[singing]
This is our neighborhood! / How can they tear it down!? / How can they turn our smile into a frown!? / We may be just a few, but if me and you and you. [Arnold switches off the stereo]
Stop! Stop singing, Eugene. This is serious. [A truck carrying a bulldozer is speeding down the street]
G Mr. Green
We can't take this lying down. We should do something!
HB Harold Berman
Yeah, but what can we do?
We can refuse to sell our houses.
Gerald Johanssen Well, I'll sign a petition!
Yeah. Let everybody know this is our neighborhood and we're not giving it up without a fight!
[watching from a roof]
Hah! Arnold! What an annoying little goody two-shoes. What a dopey little dreamer. What a corny little cornball. Always going around trying to get everyone to look on the bright side and do the right thing. How I despise him. And yet... I love him! I love him! I love his unerring sense of right and wrong. I love his unfailing insistence on the needs of the many over the needs of the few. But most of all I love the way his hair smells when I get real close behind him and he doesn't know I'm there, but then he turns and looks at me funny and I scowl at him and make an excuse for being so close, and then I insult him just to cover up the secret, adoring feelings for which I have so long and painfully harbored. Oh, Arnold!
Mr. Green can write the petition.
G Mr. Green
Say no more, Arnold. I'm already working on it.
If only I could find the guts to tell you. If only I weren't such a coward. If only I had your strength.
We'll take it around the neighborhood and get everybody to sign it.
But what if you lose? What if the neighborhood is torn down, and you have to move away, and we are separated, and we never see each other again, and I never, ever seize the chance to tell you how I really feel about you? Oh, Arnold, how I love you.
[Brainy appears from a chimney, dressed up as a chimney sweep. Helga smacks him]
C Crowd
[The next morning, FTi helicopters and a group of workers install huge Scheckvision TV screen on a roof. A crowd is watching at it]
Awesome!
[The workers unroll a huge sheet with "SCHECKVISION MALL-PLEX — INFORMATION HEADQUARTERS" written on it, and hang it below the screen]
What's going on?
SP Stinky Peterson
You must be a sound sleeper, Arnold. They've been hammering on it all mornin'.
SP Stinky Peterson
[On the Scheckvision screen it's written "30 DAYS UNTIL CONSTRUCTION BEGINS"]
Willikers!
S Sid
It's so wicked awesome.
You guys! It's not awesome. It's terrible! Read it. We've got thirty days left to save the neighborhood.
SP Stinky Peterson
Look, it's that Scheck feller.
[on the Scheckvision screen]
It's time for a new world. Out with the old, in with the new. I have seen the future and it's Future Tech Industries.
SP Stinky Peterson
He sure gives me the willies.
Gerald Johanssen But you gotta admit, he looks good in a suit.
Gerald Johanssen I know, I know. I'm just saying.
Come on! [The boys run away]
M Monkeyman
[Arnold, and other citizens of the neighborhood are trying to organize protests against tearing down the neighborhood. Helga is not sympathetic to them. The days on the Scheckvision screen are cointing down] [after receiving a leaflet from Arnold]
Monkeyman!
JO Jolly Olly Man
[The Scheckvision screen shows: "6 DAYS UNTIL CONSTRUCTION BEGINS"]
Yeah, six days to go, and then sayonara, suckers!
Six days. Enough time to try maybe one last big... thing. But... but what?
RL Rhonda Lloyd
How about a party? You always throw the most outré parties, Arnold.
Yeah, a party. A block party. With music and food.
RL Rhonda Lloyd
And finger sandwiches. Ooh!
HB Harold Berman
Yeah, and food!
We'll have a concert! The music will be so loud that we'd end up on the news. And then people will get excited about it, and the mayor will have to change her mind. And she'll stop the bulldozers.
SP Stinky Peterson
What do we call it?
RL Rhonda Lloyd
How about the "Save the Neighborhood Debutante Ball".
Gerald Johanssen Block Power, baby.
SP Stinky Peterson
Blockenanny.
Block Till You Drop. [Falls down] Ow.
Gerald Johanssen It's a Block Thing. I would know.
S Sid
A Block Party... Party?
How about... Blockapalooza?
[Ernie Potts plays accordion; Oskar Kokoshka and Mailman Harvey play saxophone; Grandpa (wearing a rasta wig) is on drums; Mr. Hyunh plays guitar; Suzie Kokoshka is a DJ; Grandma is tap dancing. Arnold and Gerald are at controls. They all play some kind of strange pokla rock music, and Grandpa smashes one of Suzie's records, annoyed by her DJ techniques. The crowd is cheering] [watching from a roof]
Blockapalooza, hah! Please.
R Reporter
[for TV]
It's called Blockapalooza, a last-ditch effort to save a forgotten neighborhood from the wrecking ball. A classic story of the little guy pitted against the corporate giant.
[Nick Vermicelli and Big Bob are watching TV at Big Bob's house]
What the heck are they doing? They'll mess up the whole deal!
Forget about it. It's all taken care of.
[on TV]
You know what this is about. It's our last chance to stand up and tell Future Tech Industries that we won't sell. We won't let 'em tear down our neighborhood.
[The crowd on TV screen is cheering]
One of our guys intercepted their permit, thereby making the whole assemblage illegal.
O Officer
[Police cars suddenly appear at the party]
Go, go, go!
Gerald Johanssen [The crowd is panicking. Police breaks up the party. People are running away] [to the officer]
Hey, what's going on?
RC Riot Cop
This whole assemblage is illegal.
RC Riot Cop
We never got any permit.
[Nick Vermicelli and Big Bob are laughing at the TV screen]
Please disperse from this area at once!
GG Grandma Gertie
Bring on your worst. We shall not be moved. [She chains herself to the door of the Sunset Arms]
O Officer
Come on. Nice and easy. [Grandma almost bites him]
Hey! Stop, that's a frail old lady!
GG Grandma Gertie
[while she and the door she's chained to are carried into the SPAT car]
Never give up Arnold. Never give in. Save the neighborhood. One if by land, two if by sea. Put the lime in the coconut. Mix it all up. [The car speeds away while she laughs]
B Bridget
Okay, which one of you touched my button? [Arnold and Gerald are smiling in a slightly perverse way]
Arnold and Gerald Johanssen [in unison]: Me!
B Bridget
Well, if you're gonna try and save the neighborhood, you're gonna need some equipment. [Pushes a button, revealing gadgets] Top of the line, state of the art. Mini condenser microphone for the ultimate concealed surveillance. Headphones and micro-radar tracking dish. 400:1 zoom lens binoculars with infrared capability for night vision. High tension, plastic wire, anodized steel pulleys and nylon straps for maneuvering in vertically-challenging situations. A two-way secure walkie-talkie for maintaining communication. And, a synchronized, programmable, glow-in-the-dark watch, set to Greenwich time and accurate within 1/10,000th of a second. And it all fits into this really cool AS-47 Junior Secret Agent utility belt.
Uh... How much does all this cost?
B Bridget
Well, since it's for such a good cause, it's on the house. I figure it's my contribution.
Great. We'll take two of them.
Gerald Johanssen [choosing spy equipment]
Do the belts come in other colors?
Gerald Johanssen Uh, we'll take black.
[looking at Nick Vermicelli through high-tech binoculars]
I think he's finally asleep, Gerald. [Notices that Gerald fell asleep] Gerald. Gerald. [Shakes him]
[disoriented after waking up]
Give me that key! [Realizing where he is] I was just resting my eye.
Come on, it's time to go in. [Pulls out a rope]
Wait a minute. You're not gonna hang from that, are you?
I don't think it's my size.
[After some time. Arnold hangs on the rope, Gerald lowers him into Nick Vermicelli's room] [mumbling while he's asleep]
No problem. I'll fix it.
[Arnold draws his hand closer to the key hanging on Nick Vermicelli's neck]
Come on. Almost there. You can do it, buddy.
[talking in his sleep]
What is that? Who's going?
[A droplet of Arnold's sweat falls onto Nick Vermicelli's face. Nick Vermicelli slightly opens his eyes and sees unclear Arnold's face]
Ah, it's an angel. [Falls asleep again]
[Arnold pulls the key off Nick Vermicelli's neck. Gerald pulls his up to the roof. They run away to the street. A street phone rings. Gerald picks up]
Hello?
[on the phone]
Good job getting the key.
Wait. Deep Voice. Where are you?
Don't worry about that. I'm watching all your movements.
[We see the figure of the Deep Voice standing on the other side of the street]
I'm everywhere and I'm nowhere, but mostly I'm... everywhere.
Come on, Deep Voice, cut the voodoo dolly mumbo jumbo, okay?
Yeah, why do you have to be so mysterious?
You two seem confused about who's calling the shots here. I am. Without me, you'll never get the document, you'll never save your neighborhood. You've got to get into Scheck's office. His safe deposit boxes are in a room behind his desk.
We have to get back into his office?
Right. Only this time, don't get caught. You've got to find a way to distract security away from the main entrance. Now, it's exactly two A.M. The bulldozers roll at seven. What are you waiting for? [Hangs up]
Man, that Deep Voice is a pain in the... [He's cut by a bus passing by with its brakes hissing]
Come on. [The boys run to the bus]
Gerald Johanssen [to the bus driver]
Hi, it's us. How you been?
Oh, so it's the two juvenile delinquents who busted my door.
[The boys get onto the bus]
Sorry about that.
Gerald Johanssen But we're kinda in a hurry... [Sees the sign "YOUR DRIVER'S NAME IS MURRAY"] Murray.
[Grandma finally escapes through the sewer. Gerald points out at security cameras]
Those cameras detect any motion. If we even move, they'll see us. [Arnold pulls out the remote-control car] Arnold, this is no time for playing with a toy car.
I'm not playing, Gerald. [The car speeds down the hall, and camera turns to watch it]
HO Head of Security
[seeing something on the screen]
What was that?
G Guard
Come on, let's check it out. [Two guards run away]
We can get to Scheck's office this way. Come on. [The boys get into Scheck's office] Deep Voice said to look in the room behind his desk. [Gerald pulls a book from a shelf, and it opens a secret door]
Gerald Johanssen What are you waiting for? [The boys see a huge number of safe deposite boxes. They sigh] Well, we'd better get started.
[The men move TNT boxes from above into the tunnels]
That's the last of it, Gramps.
Now all we have to do is run this wire up to the street and wait for the bulldozers to come. Then, we blow a huge hole, and they fall right in.
Sounds great, Grandpa. Now let's get out of here.
H Mr. Hyunh
Yes! It is still very creepy.
Gerald Johanssen [Arnold and Gerald are check the boxes] [tiredly]
997.
Gerald Johanssen 998.
Gerald Johanssen 999. [The key finally matches the box. Arnold opens it]
[from behind their backs]
Looking for something? [Arnold and Gerald are startled] Well, here you are, back again. After I patiently explained that your mission is completely hopeless, it still is. Though I'm less inclined to entertain you after you broke into my building for the second time. Did you think you could get away with this? There are cameras everywhere. I record everything that goes on, day and night. Did you think I'd let you win, let you save your little neighborhood? Don't you realize who I am? I am Alphonse Perrier Du Von Scheck. [Scheck turns on the light revealing historical art] I can trace my ancestry back to the founding fathers. [Scheck angrily turns to a framed painting] You know when we lost control of this city? When that ridiculous Tomato Incident took place in your pathetic little neighborhood. [Scheck takes the painting from the wall, breaks it in half, and flings to the floor] Tearing it down and putting my name upon its place will be revenge of the sweetest kind. [Grins evilly]
But the document. Where's the document?
[laughs evilly, reaches into his jacket, and pulls out the document and a lighter]
Unfortunately, like your little plan, it's about to go up in smoke.
