So I was able to get my hands on the novelization for the film. Things may change, but this is how the story looks come March 17th.
Belle: BELLE IS NOT AN INVENTOR. The only thing she 'invents' is a washing machine for the town fountain. She wants to get her laundry done and she takes a horse, a bucket and leads the horse around the fountain to 'churn' the water and rinse her laundry. In this film she is very 'I need to get out of this castle' instead of hanging out. At one point she tries to escape out the window of the tower she is being held in. She longs to know what happened to her mother since her father took them away from Paris when she was a baby.
Maurice: Maurice builds music boxes. There isn't much to him besides the fact that he knows Gaston is an ass and does not want him to mary Belle. He also apparently wants Belle to stay home, in the village, because he is protective of her. (The story is that her mother died of the plague and he whisked them out of the Paris so that they would not come in contact from it... )
Gaston: Gaston has been out of the war for twelve years but continues to wear his uniform because it gives him noteriety. He has a short temper and this temper causes Maurice to deem him unfit for Belle. He also likes bragging about the war every chance he gets. He is armed with a gun and arrows in this film.
LeFou: He is a fanboy and is the second half to their 'Le Duo' (the most obnoxious thing that is referenced in the film). He is apparently a good guy underneath because he does not want to side with Gaston when it comes to ridiculing Maurice and causing him any sort of harm.
The Beast: The Prince is the most backstoried person in the whole film. Apparently as a child he was raised by his kind mother who died when he was a young boy. The King, who then became a nasty person, raised him to become just as nasty. He dies and leaves the Prince the castle. The objects raise him but they don't seem to do jack shit. Anyway, his transformation takes place at a ball and he calls the old woman/Enchantress ugly and deems her unfit to hang out at his soriee (because only beautiful people can attend yo!). Belle finds out about the curse, and wishes to help the castle remove it... but the trick is they do not tell her how, because Mrs. Potts' believes that Belle should fall in love for him naturally. He is given the rose, the magic mirror and a magical atlas that allows someone to go wherever they wish to go when the page is touched.
The Objects: They remain the same. However, backstory on Audra and Stanley's characters - they are husband and wife, and an opera singer and the piano player from Italy that come for the party. They, their pet dog, and the servants are the only people left at the party when the Beast gets changed (everyone else runs away). Mrs. Pott's also has a husband! (which shoots down that lol-zy rumor about the Beast fucking Mrs. Potts' and creating Chip), which leads to....
The Curse: The Curse has been a bit more explained. It appears that the land surrounding the castle (the village) is in on the curse too. Their memories are wiped (hence why Mrs. Pott's husband doesn't remember having a wife and kid, but he seems to feel that he is missing something). The land is also enchanted, since the village is in the summer and the castle grounds are in a pepepetual winter. The objects also tell Belle that if they don't break the curse before the last petal falls they become inanimate.
Those are the big spoilers. I can answer any details in the comments about certain scenes. But that's the big parts that I think everyone should know.
(I want to thank the mods for being patient with me - took me forever to upload this.)
Source: Me; my kindle; amazon