<P> A beautiful enchantress disguised as an old beggar woman arrives at a castle during a ball and offers the host, a cruel and selfish prince, a rose in return for shelter from a storm . When he refuses, she reveals her identity . To punish the prince for his lack of compassion, the enchantress transforms him into a beast and his servants into household objects, then erases the castle, the prince and his servants from the memories of their loved ones . She casts a spell on the rose and warns the prince that the curse will only be broken if he learns to love another, and earn their love in return, before the last petal falls . </P> <P> Some years later, in the small town of Villeneuve, Belle, the book - loving daughter of a music box maker and artist Maurice, dreams of adventure and brushes off advances from Gaston, an arrogant former soldier . On his way to a convention and lost in the forest, Maurice seeks refuge in the Beast's castle, but the Beast imprisons him for stealing a rose from his garden as a gift to Belle . When Maurice's horse returns without him, Belle ventures out in search for him, and finds him locked in the castle dungeon . The Beast agrees to let her take Maurice's place . </P> <P> Belle befriends the castle's servants, who invite her to a spectacular dinner . When she wanders into the forbidden west wing and finds the rose, the Beast scares her into the woods . She is ambushed by a pack of wolves, but the Beast rescues her, and is injured in the process . As Belle nurses his wounds, a friendship develops between them . The Beast shows Belle a gift from the enchantress, a book that transports readers wherever they want . Belle uses the book to visit her childhood home in Paris, where she discovers a plague doctor mask and realizes that she and her father were forced to leave when her mother succumbed to the plague . </P> <P> In Villeneuve, Maurice tries to convince the other villagers of the Beast and Belle's imprisonment but no one believes him . Gaston, seeing rescuing Belle as an opportunity to win her hand in marriage, agrees to help Maurice . When Maurice learns of his ulterior motive and rejects him, Gaston abandons him to be eaten by the wolves . Maurice is rescued by the hermit Agathe, but when he tells the townsfolk of Gaston's crime and is unable to provide solid evidence, Gaston convinces them to send Maurice to an insane asylum . </P>

Cast of the live-action beauty and the beast