Ted, the explorer with a large yellow hat, is good friends with Bloomsberry. Bloomsberry runs a natural history museum. His greedy son, Bloomsberry Junior, wants to tear down his dad's museum and put a parking garage in its place, but the elder Bloomsberry is convinced that a spectacular new exhibit could save the museum from the wrecking ball. Ted heads to Africa on an expedition to find some special artifacts that will keep his friend in business. While he is in Africa, he befriends a playful monkey he calls George. While George is friendly, he has a taste for mischief and seems to always get Ted in trouble. Ted thinks he has seen the last of George when his ship heads back to America, but discovers that George managed to hide aboard the boat before it sailed. Ted and his good friend Maggie, a schoolteacher who's sweet on him, struggle to find of a way to save Bloomsberry's museum.