In Manzini’s Antiques shop, eccentric store owner Captain Manzini tells his fourteen-year-old assistant, Dodger, that he can touch anything in the store with the exception of the garbage pail. Manzini tells Dodger to think of the garbage pail as a Pandora’s Box which should not be opened and puts the can on a high shelf. When Tangerine, an older teenager and an aspiring fashion designer, walks by the shop, Dodger invites her in. Tangerine’s jealous boyfriend, Wally, sees her and follows. Wally and his friend, Juice, try to beat Dodger, but he dodges them until they finally shove him against the shelves, causing the garbage pail to fall over. Green slime oozes out of the pail. Wally and Juice drag Dodger into the street and push him into a manhole that leads to the sewer. They knock Dodger unconscious and turn on a valve releasing sewer water, then leave. A few minutes later, short humanlike creatures come into the sewer, rescue Dodger and take him back to the shop. Captain Manzini recognizes the creatures as having come from the garbage pail and orders them back inside. When they refuse, Manzini tells Dodger to get him the tooth of a crocodile, the hair of a goat, the shadow of his smile, and a bucket of English fog so he can cast a spell forcing the creatures back into the pail. Dodger informs him they can no longer purchase those items, so he cannot cast his spell. Manzini makes the creatures promise to stay away from the “normies” until he can figure out a way to get them back into the garbage can. The seven creatures introduce themselves to Dodger: Valerie Vomit throws up, Windy Winston farts, Messy Tessie has a constantly running nose, Nat Nerd cannot control his bladder, Foul Phil has bad breath, Greaser Greg has greasy hair and skin and Ali Gator looks like an alligator. Later, Tangerine invites Dodger to accompany her to a dance club to sell her youth-oriented fashions. The two earn a lot of money selling her clothes on the hood of her car outside the club. Meanwhile, the garbage pail creatures get into mischief as they explore the shop and steal a van. Driving it over Wally’s car, they crush it. When Dodger returns, the creatures give him a fashionable jacket they made. Tangerine is impressed when she sees the jacket, saying it makes Dodger look like he’s sixteen. Tangerine asks him to make a dozen similar jackets by Friday night so she can sell them at the dance club. Dodger asks the creatures to make more jackets and they start sewing right away. The next day, some of the creatures cause a commotion when they sneak into a movie theater to watch a Three Stooges comedy. A few other creatures go to a biker bar where the sign reads, “The Toughest Bar in the World.” When Ali Gator bites the toes of one of the bikers, the rest of the patrons come at him with knives, but Windy Winston farts and disperses the crowd. Soon after that, Ali Gator and Windy Winston make friends with the bikers. Later back at the shop, Manzini tries singing an incantation to get the creatures back in the garbage can, but it does not work. He warns the creatures they are in danger and makes them promise to stay in the shop. The creatures say they are worried about some of their friends who are locked up in the State Home for the Ugly. Dodger and Manzini agree to locate the Home. Out on the street, they spy a truck that reads State Home for the Ugly and climb on the back. The Home has a fence around it and guards patrolling the grounds. On Friday night, Dodger brings the clothes the creatures made to the dance club with Tangerine. They sell out quickly and make a lot of money. She asks Dodger to make more, and kisses him on the cheek. Afterward, she pays Wally money to leave Dodger alone. The next day, when Dodger chats with Tangerine on the street, the creatures come out of the antiques shop. She is repulsed by the sight of them, but Dodger reports they are the ones who made the clothes. They take Tangerine to see their factory in the shop basement. She is impressed and says once they produce enough clothes, she wants to have a fashion show at a department store. A few days later when Tangerine comes to get the clothes, Valerie Vomit offers to be one of the models, but Tangerine declines, saying the models have to be “pretty.” When Dodger signals that was the wrong thing to say, she corrects herself and says, “pretty tall.” When the creatures want to go to the fashion show, Tangerine warns they might be caught and sent to the State Home for the Ugly, then locks them in the basement. After Tangerine and Dodger leave, Wally and Juice force their way into the shop, knock Manzini unconscious, and trap the creatures in a net. They take the creatures to the State Home for the Ugly and receive a reward for their efforts. The creatures are put into cages labeled “Too Gross,” “Too Hairy,” “Too Fat,” “Too Silly,” and “Too Weird.” Guards say the creatures will soon be compacted by a garbage crusher and sent to the “big garbage dump in the sky.” Meanwhile, Wally, Juice, and their friend Blythe arrive at Bundy’s department store where they announce the creatures are at the Home for the Ugly. Dodger is upset, but they shove him into a garbage bin. He escapes and rushes to the Home for the Ugly only to discover guards with Doberman pinschers chasing Manzini away. Dodger goes to the biker bar for help. The bikers tie chains to the fence and pull the fence down, freeing everyone including a circus clown locked in a “Too Silly” cage and Santa Claus locked in a “Too Fat” cage. The creatures rush to the fashion show where the youthful fashions are very popular. The creatures cause mischief at the show, including pulling the clothes off the models. Dodger starts a fistfight with Wally with some assistance from the creatures. He hits Wally repeatedly, until Manzini stops him. Afterward, Tangerine apologizes to Dodger and says she wants to remain friends. Dodger declines, saying he does not think she is pretty anymore. When the creatures return to the antique shop, Manzini plays a tune on the piano backwards, saying that should send the creatures back into the garbage pail. However, the tune does not work and the creatures walk out of the shop to cause more mischief.