The story involves a lovely and fiercely independent girl named Belle, who lives with her widower inventor father in a small provincial French village. She'd rather pursue her own path, which brings consternation to the local narcissistic he-man, Gaston, who intends to marry Belle because she's the prettiest girl in town. After Maurice gets lost in the thick and ominous woods, Belle goes out to find him, discovering his whereabouts in a secluded castle run by The Beast, who has her father imprisoned for petty theft, and with whom Belle swaps places in captivity. The castle is enchanted, as evidenced by the fact that most household objects speak and talk, the victims of a curse brought upon the beast when in original human form by a sorceress who found him most unkind. Beast and company may return to their former selves, but only if he finds a love that loves him in return, and Belle may be the last option left before the curse becomes permanent.