"all-stops-pulled production number[s]," the scene features "dancing plates and other fanciful dinner guests" as they "perform for Belle, hoping to make her stay a little more comfortable." As the film's heroine, Belle is served a meal in the form of "a Broadway-quality stage show." Commonly regarded as the "show-stopper" of Beauty and the Beast, the sequence both visually and musically "derive[s its] insatiable energy and excitement from the gradual accumulation of participation." The Washington Post observed that "'Be Our Guest'" involves "the household gadgets enjoin[ing] Belle to live with them," comparing it heavily to the song "Under the Sea" from Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989), which was also written by Menken and Ashman. Longing to be human, servant and maître d' Lumière is also of the impression that he is worth nothing unless he serves, singing,"Life is so unnerving/For a servant who's not serving." In terms of character development, "Be Our Guest introduces both Belle and audiences to Lumière's "musical expertise." Additionally, the energetic and flamboyant way in which Lumiere, a suave, French-accented candelabra, is personified and portrayed throughout "Be Our Guest" has often been likened to French entertainer Maurice Chevalier. The Washington Post commented, "The model for Lumiere seems to have been Maurice Chevalier, and the idea is so choice, and so deftly executed, that it places him immediately among the top rank of Disney characters." American actor and singer Jerry Orbach, who provided the voice of Lumiere, himself admitted to People that the character was very much him doing a deliberate impersonation of Chevalier. Described as both a "musical montage" and the "magical set piece" of Beauty and the Beast, "Be Our Guest" is "a big production number featuring dancing cutlery." Analyzing the scene's complex, elaborate choreography, film critics have observed the profound influence that American filmmaker and choreographer Busby Berkeley has had on "Be Our Guest", deeming its lively "Busby Berkeley-style choreography" both "joyous and charming" while commenting, "Without the confines of camera range, there are virtually no limits to how spectacular an animated Berkeley scene can be ... most notably ... 'Be Our Guest'." David Kronke of Amazon.com hailed the song itself as "an inspired Busby Berkeley homage." Similarly, the Dance Films Association wrote, "the 'Be Our Guest' number features practically all of the techniques employed by Berkeley in his musical comedies," while The New York Times called "Be Our Guest" a "Busby Berkeley-style number in