Logline

A young alligator ostracized from his own kind must rely on the help of a little girl and her family in order to save his swamp from the harmful ways of two slow-witted hunters.

Al is different from all of the other gators in the swamp. He doesn't want to kill so he becomes a vegetarian. Unable to take the teasing any longer, he leaves the swamp with his best pals, an Oscar by the name of Lewis and a duck named Harold. With Lewis needing a constant supply of water, the group stops at a backyard pool for some relaxation.

8-year-old Olivia discovers the trio living in her pool. Initially, she is terrified of Al until he speaks. Once she sees the friends are friendly, she does her best to keep them a secret from her parents. Her dad, Roger, panics over a talking alligator and fish, and falls into the pool following a bump on the head. Olivia tries to save him but nearly drowns with the attempt. If it weren’t for Al, both would have died. Roger is forced to realize the creatures mean them no harm and promises he will try to find them a good place to live with one caveat: they don’t tell Olivia’s mom, Marcia.

Keeping three animals living in their backyard pool secret proves to be a challenge. Al pretends to be a pool float whenever Marcia comes around. Lewis ducks under the water. Marcia does find Harold floating in the pool and runs him off.

Back at the swamp where Al was born, things fall apart after Al leaves. Two dim-witted hunters, Hank and George, hunt alligators to sell them for their skin and meat. When they return for more, they kill a good friend of Al’s mom. Her babies now fall into the custody of Martha, who has a brood of her own to look after. With the probability of the hunters returning for more, Harold takes off to tell Al and Lewis what takes place back home.

Meanwhile, Marcia discovers the talking gator and fish. The shock causes her to faint. When she wakes, Roger and Olivia convince her the animals mean her no harm. When Harold flies in to tell them the devastating news from the swamp, Al doesn’t see anything he can do to help. Roger decides it’s up to the humans to put up the fight and takes his family to the originating source - a store that sells the alligator goods, run by Jeb. When he won’t listen to Roger’s reason, numerous gators band together to scare him. He swears to never buy another gator again.

George no longer wants to kill gators after what they did to the alligator mom, but Hank wants the money and goes after Martha. Al and his gang arrive in time to harass Hank, to the point of scaring him off. He is warned that if he ever harms another animal, they will see him again.

Martha is so happy to see Al that she welcomes him home. Lewis, too. The news is music to Al’s ears but at the same time, he has bonded with Olivia and her family. They work out a deal where Al and friends can come visit sometimes, where they have free swimming and all the food they can eat, including vegetables for the vegetarians.