Two stepsisters, Deepa and Rupa, have different personalities. Deepa is selfish, Rupa is kind. The personified 'wind' steals their cotton, forcing the sisters to go to the old woman in the moon. Along the way they encounter a number of magical creatures, including a horse, a cow, and a banyan tree, all needing their help. Each sister's actions contribute to their ultimately different fates, teaching children the morals of kindness and service to others as well as respect for nature.
Ten years before the first film, there was a period of enormous political turmoil. Fearless agents were recruited for espionage missions against enemy spies. Gregorio Cortez and Ingrid Avellan (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) were enemy spies assigned to kill each other, but instead they fell in love and married. After an atypical wedding, Gregorio and Ingrid took a break from espionage and started a family.