- A 74-year-old lizard named Leo and his turtle friend decide to escape from the terrarium of a Florida school classroom where they have been living for decades.
- The last year of elementary school as seen through the eyes of a class pet. A jaded 74-year-old lizard named Leo has been stuck in the same Florida classroom for decades with his turtle terrarium-mate. When he learns that he only has one year left to live, he plans to escape to experience life on the outside, but instead gets caught up in his anxious students' problems--such as an impossibly mean substitute teacher.—Alex Hartsell
- Longtime class pets Leo the Tuatara (Adam Sandler) and Squirtle (Bill Burr) the Florida box turtle live in a fifth-grade classroom at a Fort Myers elementary school. During a parent-teacher conference, the pregnant sixth-grade teacher Mrs. Salinas (Allison Strong) announces her maternity leave. The school is running a competition where the best class of 5th grade gets to go to Magic Land Park at the end of the year as a reward.
As the parents come to express their displeasure with the substitute teacher whom Principal Spahn (Rob Schneider) has selected to cover for Mrs. Salinas, Leo overhears one of them say that Tuataras live to be 75 years old and despairs when he realizes he is 74 and has not accomplished his dreams of going to the Everglades. The next day, the strict substitute Virginia Malkin (Cecily Strong) arrives and is quickly loathed by the students. Malkin wants the class to take the class pet to their house one by one to learn responsibility. Leo sees this as an opportunity to escape.
Leo is taken home for the weekend by Summer (Sunny Sandler), an overly talkative girl. While trying to make his escape, Leo accidentally reveals to Summer that he can talk, and suggests to her that she ask more questions to improve her conversations with classmates. He says that the popular kids at school are the ones who want to know more about others. As a result, Summer becomes more popular. One by one, her fellow students Eli (Roey Smigel) (often sheltered by his overprotective parents, who assign a drone to hover over him all day long). Leo encourages Eli to share his true feelings with the drone and to tell it not to smother him so much. The drone gets depressed, but Eli finally starts enjoying his life. Jayda (Sadie Sandler) (a popular student). Leo tells her that she is miserable and that she is not that great. He tells her to live her life like a normal kid. Cole (Carson Minniear) (the class clown who secretly despises himself). Leo tells him to talk in his normal voice and not to worry about what others think of him. Skyler (Tienya Safko), Logan (Gloria Manning), Mia (Reese Lores) (huggy student who is a science wiz and has recently divorced parents). Leo learns that Mia loved her grandfather and is really smart. Leo tells Mia to get strong and to take control of her life. Kabir (Benjamin Bottani) (a transfer student from New York City), TJ (Aldan Liam Phillipson) (a student who grew his first back hair). TJ is afraid since his dad has a hairy back. Leo tells TJ that this is normal. Zane (Coulter Ibanez) (eats food in class), and Anthony (Ethan Smigel) (a held-back class bully). Leo tells him to enjoy being a kid. take Leo home each weekend, confiding in him with their own issues and concerns, to which he provides wisdom and support, improving each of their lives. However, Leo requests that each student keep his talking ability a secret from the others and doesn't tell any of them that the others know he can talk.
Jealous of the attention Leo is getting, Squirtle decides to expose him. Leo had been telling each kid that he only spoke to them and Squirtle tells the entire class that Leo is talking to each and every one of them, and as such no one is "special" for Leo. Feeling betrayed, the class disregards Leo. Ms. Malkin takes Leo home when she discovers he talks and has been helping her students. Leo learns that she never accomplished her dream of being a real teacher (and not a substitute), which is why she's always mean to the students, and he attempts to give her advice. Leo tells her to be nicer to her students.
The next day, the students win the history fair with their historical figure reenactments, with their prize being a field trip to Magic Land Park. The parents all notice the change in their children and believe that their teacher had everything to do with it. Wanting to take all the credit, Ms. Malkin abandons Leo at the Everglades and proceeds to lie to the students, who wanted to apologize to Leo, by telling them that Leo left them.
As the students travel to Magic Land Park, a guilt-ridden Squirtle uses Eli's drone to catch up with them and reveals that Ms. Malkin lied, to which she confesses. Squirtle admits that he also got jealous of his best friend, instead of being happy for him. Squirtle tells the class that Leo is dying. Squirtle is afraid that the crazy wild animals at the Everglades will rip Leo apart.
The students and Ms. Malkin hijack the bus and head to the Everglades. Meanwhile, Leo learns from wild Tuataras that he can live to be over 110 years old, reinvigorating him. Leo is threatened by a congregation of alligators but is rescued by Ms. Malkin and the students.
On the final day of the school year, Leo tells the class to look out for one another as they enter middle school. He says that people are ready to listen to them and says that kids just need to figure out a way to talk about their problems. It would make them feel better. Ms. Salinas returns to school with her baby boy named Cole. Ms. Malkin is given a full-time job as a teacher by Principal Spahn and is promptly assigned to the kindergartners, with Leo and Squirtle as the class pets.
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