The film takes place presumably in the late 18th century. In the film's prologue, an enchantress disguised as an old beggar woman offers a selfish young prince a rose in exchange for a night's shelter from the extreme cold, as a test of his heart and emotion. When he turns her away, repulsed by her old and ugly appearance and sneering at the simple but lovely gift, she turns into an Enchantress and punishes him by transforming him into an ugly beast and turns his servants into furniture and other household items. She gives him a magic mirror that will enable him to view faraway events, and also gives him the rose. He must love and be loved in return before all the rose's petals have fallen off, or he will remain a beast forever.

Years later, the film's beauty queen, young and enthusiastic lady, a hopeful dreamer, called Belle, is the smartest, best-read person in a small provincial French town. As such, she is hotly pursued by Gaston, the lantern-jawed man. Wandering through her village while reading a book, Belle becomes the focus of a spectacular opening number that captures the atmosphere of the whole film. Bit by bit, the population trickles out to greet Belle and gossip about her, while she herself bemoans the small-mindedness of the place.

This beautiful girl is the daughter of Maurice, who is an old inventor, still trying to rise as a phoenix and turn his dreams into a beautiful reality, that offers a better future for his family. Maurice's latest invention is a wood-chopping machine. When he rides off to display the machine at the fair, he loses his way in the woods and stumbles upon the Beast's castle, where he meets the transformed servants Lumiere, a cheeky, yet charming candle, Cogsworth, who is a mature clock with this own points of view, Mrs. Potts, an elderly women and a brilliant mother of Chip and his brothers and sisters, cute cups that serve warm hugs in form of tea and the main heartbreaker and first love of the cheesy candle, Fifi, the beautiful duster made of fluffy feathers. After getting used to seeing talking objects, the servants warm him by the fire, in the comfortable armchair of the Beast, cuddled in the blanket. However, the main character find out for the newest visitor in his castle, so he decides to punish the old inventor as he would throw him in the dungeons. The scared horse that has been threatened by the blood thirsty wolfs which home is the deep wood, comes back home to the little village, the home of Belle as he describes the situation perfectly with gestures.

Belle, with the aim to save her father and to bring him back to the old family cottage, sits on the back of the back of the horse, as she maintains to have a safe journey to the dark mansion of the hideous creature hidden in the rooms. As she gets to the castle, she opens the gates of the castle as she opens the door of her future, of the hell of the life she expects.
The Beast imprisons Maurice, but Belle is led back to the castle by Maurice's horse, Phillipe, and offers to take her father's place. When the Beast agrees to this and sends him home, Maurice tells Gaston and the other villagers what happened, but they think he has lost his mind, so he goes to rescue her alone but gets lost on his way.

Meanwhile, Belle refuses the Beast's "invitation" to dinner, and the Beast orders his servants not to let her eat, but Lumiere serves her dinner anyway. "Be Our Guest," the lavish song that beams in the background, as the charming candle tells the lyrics:
Why, we only live to serve
Try the gray stuff, it's delicious
Don't believe me? Ask the dishes!
Later on, Cogsworth gives her a tour of the castle. However, she wanders off on her own and finds the West Wing, which The Beast had forbidden her to go into. She goes in anyway, discovering many broken items, including a shredded portrait of a young prince and the enchanted rose. Before she can touch it, The Beast sees her and angrily screams at her to get out.

Frightened, Belle tries to escape from the hell she is trapped in. Alone, in the deep side of the forest as she tries to get away from the whole nightmare, she and Phillipe are attacked by wolves. Suddenly, the Beast miraculously arrives to her rescue and fends off the wolves.
After the Beast is injured after fending them off, Belle thanks him for saving her life. He begins to develop feelings for her while she nurses his wounds and he delights her by showing his extensive library. They slowly start to bond.

While sharing a romantic evening together, Belle tells the Beast she misses her father. He lets her use his magic mirror to see him. She sees Maurice dying in the woods trying to rescue her. The Beast lets her go out to save him and he gives her the mirror to remember him by. She finds Maurice and brings him home. As Gaston is about to bring Maurice to the insane asylum, Belle proves Maurice's sanity by showing the Beast with the magic mirror. Realizing Belle loves the Beast, Gaston convinces the band of villagers that the Beast is a man-eating monster and leads them to the castle to kill him. He confines Belle and Maurice to their basement.

Having stowed away into Belle's baggage, Chip manages to free them. Gaston confronts the beast while the servants fend off the villagers. The Beast initially is too depressed to fight back, though perks up after seeing Belle return to the castle. He battles and defeats Gaston in battle on the rooftops, though spares his life by ordering him to leave. Gaston stabs him from behind as the Beast reunites with Belle. Gaston loses his balance in the process and dies. Before the Beast dies, Belle professes her love for him when the last rose petal falls. With the spell broken, the Beast is revived, and he and his servants resume their human form. Belle dances with him in the ballroom.