Belle's father, an inventor, goes missing when he leaves the village to attend an inventors' fair.  Belle goes looking for him, and her journey leads her to an enchanted castle.  She discovers that the castle belongs to a horrendous beast who has imprisoned her father.  The Beast agrees to release her father if she takes his place, and Belle agrees.

Belle is befriended by the Beast's servants, and gradually, she starts to see beyond the Beast's repulsive appearance.  The Beast also softens and eventually releases her, allowing her to return to her father.

In the meantime, Belle's father has returned to the village with his tale, and ends up being ridiculed by Gaston and his friends.  Belle returns and shows the Beast to the villagers to prove that her father is sane.  Gaston, obsviously jeolous, gets the village up in arms against the Beast.

Belle manages to warn the Beast in time, but during the battle which follows, he is mortally wounded by Gaston.  Belle, however, 'saves' the Beast from the enchantment when she realises that she has fallen in love with him.