The film begins in the past, laying the groundwork for the curse, and for the film's attempt to mix a contemporary sensibility with an old world feel. We're informed that the Wilhern Family has been able to avoid the curse for decades because the curse was aimed only at Wilhern girls. For generations only boys were born into the family, and the one girl born was a Wilhern in name only (her mother had had an affair with one of the servants). So when Jessica (Catherithe O'Hara) and Franklin (Richard E. Grant) deliver their first child, they are shocked to find that their bouncing bundle of joy has pig ears and a piggy snout. Oink! That's the curse, and it cannot be broken until one of the WIlhern's kind - a blue blood - accepts Penelope. She must find her one true love from among the aristocrats, "one who will love her faithfully" and forever. Not an easy task when you're looking down a pig snout.
