Tennessee Tuxedo is a wise-cracking penguin, who along with Chumley the Walrus, Yakety Yak, and Baldy Eagle, frequently complain about conditions at the Megopolis Zoo to curator Stanley Livingstone, who readily dismisses them, and accuses Tennessee of agitating rebellion amongst zoo animals. With the help of a human scientist, named Phineas J. Whoopee, they're given tips on how to either escape, or improve their lives through simple scientific principles, which are often used incorrectly, and backfire on them.