The plucky, pigtailed Eliza Thornberry (voiced by Lacey Chabert) and her high-strung chimpanzee pal (Tom Kane) are out to stop some poachers in this feature film version of the Nickelodeon TV cartoon show. While her family is off on a trek through the Serengeti in their high-tech, gadget-filled RV, Eliza is sent off to a stuffy English boarding school by her strict grandmother (Lynn Redgrave). Poor Eliza must figure out how to escape back to Africa and put a stop to the aforementioned evil poachers, all without her special ability to talk to the animals, a power she lost because of her obnoxious sister Debbie (Danielle Harris).