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 which Belle is serenaded by furniture and dishes . " Film critic Roger Ebert joked that the " Be Our Guest " choreography resembles " Busby Berkeley running amok . " Additionally , Jerry Griswold , author of '' The Meanings of " Beauty and the Beast " : A Handbook '' , observed several similarities between " Be Our Guest " and a scene from Maurice Sendak and Carole King 's musical '' Really Rosie '' . Significantly , '' Beauty and the Beast '' was one of Disney 's earliest feature-length animated films to fully employ computer-generated imagery and technology , utilizing it to a significant extent , as depicted throughout its signature musical numbers " Be Our Guest " and " Beauty and the Beast . " Significantly , " Be Our Guest " " marks the debut of the Pixar Image Computer ' '' '' ' system that is featured in the ballroom dance sequence and ' Be Our Guest ' . " Due to its elaborateness , the sequence has been noted for " tak ing full advantage of the advantages of animation . " " Be Our Guest " is , according to the song 's official sheet music , a Broadway musical-inspired song . Another inspiration for the song is a minor theme from Mahler 's Third Symphony , occurring in both the first and third movements , which the Disney song copied nearly note for note as the main theme . An energetic , " turbo-charged Broadway chorus number , " " Be Our Guest " was written in common time at a " free " tempo of 50 beats per minute , spanning a length of three minutes and forty-four seconds . In " Be Our Guest , " Orbach 's " low " tenor or baritone vocal range spans roughly three octaves , from the low note of F3 to the high note of D ♭ 6 . Described as a " scintillating , " " jolly , " " lavish and bouncy " song , " Be Our Guest " is , according to '' TV Guide '' , a " boisterous " number , comparing it to songs from the Broadway musicals '' Hello , Dolly ! '' and '' Mame '' . Musically , the song , according to Film.com , has a total of four key changes and modulations , beginning slowly and " gradually build ing ... to a thunderous , bring-the-house-down climax . " Additionally described as " a spark of Gallic vaudeville that lights a flame to both entertainers Maurice Chevalier and Yves Montand , " " Be Our Guest " depicts both " fun " and " humour . " Extending a warm , energetic invitation towards Belle , the first verse of the song is preceded by a spoken introduction . It reads , at first in French , " '' Ma chere Mademoiselle '' , it is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight . And now we invite you to relax , let us pull up a chair as the dining room proudly presents : your dinner , " immediately succeeded by the sung lyrics " '' Be our guest , be our guest , put our service to the test , '' " continuing with " '' Go on , unfold your menu / take a glance and then you 'll / be our guest / oui , our guest / be our guest '' . " A nostalgic Lumiere muses about being human , pining for the " good old days when we were useful . " Furthermore , Lumiere voices his need to serve , singing , " Life is so unnerving/For a servant who 's not serving . " " Be Our Guest " has been universally lauded , receiving widespread critical acclaim and garnering nearly unanimously positive reviews from both film and music critics . Hailing it as a " crowd-pleasing production number , " '' TV Guide '' drew similarities between " Be Our Guest " and songs from the Broadway musicals '' Hello , Dolly ! '' and '' Mame '' . '' The Globe and Mail '' 's Jennie Punter called the song " show-stopping . " Similarly , Drew Taylor of Indiewire echoed Punter 's statement , writing , " when the enchanted wait staff dazzle the captive Belle , assuring her that she 's not a prisoner she 's a guest of the castle , " the result is ultimately " show-stopping . " Writing for the '' Austin Chronicle '' , Kathleen Maher , who generally panned the film 's songs and musical numbers , liked " Be Our Guest " , describing it as '' Beauty and the Beast '' 's " only ... magical set piece . " Ranking '' Beauty and the Beast : Original Motion Picture Soundtrack '' as Disney 's greatest soundtrack , Moviefone 's Sandie Angulo Chen highlighted " Be Our Guest " , noting its " infectious quality " while hailing it as an " amazing food chorus line . " JoBlo.com wrote that " Be Our Guest " is both " eye-popping " and " impossibly catchy . " Orbach 's performance as Lumiere has also garnered significant praise . Filmtracks.com commented , " the ever popular ' Be Our Guest ' ... flourish es due to a spirited lead performance by Jerry Orbach . " Similarly , Hollywood.com cited in the website 's biography of the actor , " Among the highlights of '' Beauty and the Beast '' was Orbach 's delivery of the showstopping number ' Be Our Guest ' . " Several critics have awarded specific praise to " Be Our Guest " 's choreography , comparing it extensively to the work of director and choreographer Busby Berkeley . In addition to hailing " Be Our Guest " as " delightful , " Candice Russel of the '' Sun-Sentinel '' wrote , " In setting the table for Belle , Lumiere and friends concoct a Busby Berkeley song-and-dance extravaganza . " The '' Deseret News ' '' Chris Hicks described " the Busby Berkeley-style ' Be Our Guest ' " as " first-rate . " Lisa Schwarzbaum of '' Entertainment Weekly '' highlighted the scene , writing , " The set pieces are narcotically pleasing , especially the Busby Berkeley-style dancing-kitchenware spectacular , ' Be Our Guest ' . " James Berardinelli of '' ReelViews '' coined " ' Be Our Guest ' ... the animated equivalent of Broadway show-stoppers , with all the energy and audacity of something choreographed by Busby Berkeley . " Calling it a " wonderful musical number , " Roger Ebert enthused , " ' Be Our Guest ' is a rollicking invitation to Belle from the castle staff , choreographed like Busby Berkeley running amok . " In review of the 2011 3D re-release of '' Beauty and the Beast '' , Stephen Whitty of '' The Star-Ledger '' commented , " The illusion of depth does add more life to the enchanted housewares — particularly the ' Be Our Guest ' number , with its Busby Berkeley geometrics . " While '' Beauty and the Beast '' 's several theatrical re-releases and reissues have been met with generally mixed reviews , critical response towards the " Be Our Guest " musical sequence has remained predominantly positive . Reviewing the 2001 IMAX re-release of the film , the '' Los Angeles Times ' '' Charles Solomon felt that the inclusion of the deleted song " Human Again " was unnecessary , preferring " Be Our Guest " and writing , " a second major production number simply is n't needed ; ' Be Our Guest ' is sufficient . " Similarly , the '' Seattle Post-Intelligencer '' 's William Arnold wrote , " On the other hand , it 's understandable why " Human Again " was cut from the original . It 's almost too similar to the film 's show-stopper , ' Be Our Guest ' . " Reviewing the film 's 2012 3D conversion , Todd Gilchrist of '' Boxoffice '' wrote that " Be Our Guest " is " effective , immersive and maybe even memorable . " Meanwhile , Annlee Ellingson of '' Paste '' wrote , " It 's thrilling to experience this film 's major set pieces on the big screen again , especially the Broadway-infused ' Be Our Guest ' number . " '' The Times-Picayune '' 's Mike Scott wrote , " But then the 3-D all but disappears until the ' Be Our Guest ' number -- with its artfully surreal dance of the dishes . " Andrew Pulver of '' The Guardian '' , who otherwise criticized the film 's songs , praised " Be Our Guest " , writing , " Apart from the spectacular Busby Berkeleyesque ' Be Our Guest ' , the film pretty much grinds to a halt whenever one of the songs ... starts up . " Likewise , Neil Smith of '' Total Film '' concluded that " only ‘ Be Our Guest ’ and the ballroom swoop really benefit from a stereoscopic make-over that does n't do the hand-drawn remainder many favours . " Although vastly critically acclaimed , the song did receive some minor criticism . Lukewarmly , Irving Tan of Sputnikmusic commented , " numbers like ' Be Our Guest ' provides evidence that Lumiere and co. are infinitely preferable as entertaining flatware . " On Lansbury 's performance , Tan joked , " The singer 's delightfully personable contribution is '' almost '' reason enough to forgive Disney for thinking her English accent ... would not look out of place in a film set in 18th century France . " A more negative review was written by Pete Vonder Haar of '' The Houston Press '' . Observing that '' Beauty and the Beast '' " was Disney 's first stab at incorporating computer animation , " he felt that " the results are , now , pretty primitive , " concluding , " I recall thinking the dancing forks during ' Be Our Guest ' ... looked pretty bad and time has not been kind . " The song has also been compared to " Under the Sea " from '' The Little Mermaid '' , most of which have been mixed . Jay Boyar the '' Orlando Sentinel '' opined , " ' Be Our Guest ' ... is the closest thing in '' Beauty and the Beast '' to the bubbly ' Under the Sea ' extravaganza in '' The Little Mermaid '' , " while '' Entertainment Weekly '' 's Owen Gleiberman 's review was much more negative , describing the song as " merely serviceable " and concluding , ' Be Our Guest , ' ... sorry to say , is no ' Under the Sea ' . " Likewise , Desson Howe '' '' of '' The Washington Post '' panned both the song and Lumiere , writing , " the Candelabrum 's Maurice Chevalier accent is clearly intended to substitute for the Caribbean-lilted lobster in '' Mermaid '' . And the ensemble song , ' Be Our Guest , ' in which the household gadgets enjoin Belle to live with them , is an obvious attempt to reprise a similar '' Mermaid '' number , ' Under the Sea . ' But it 's just under par . " Alongside the songs " Beauty and the Beast " and " Belle , " " Be Our Guest " was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 64th Academy Awards in 1992 . Having garnered three separate Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song , '' Beauty and the Beast '' became the first film in the history of the Academy Awards to achieve this rare feat ; this would not be repeated until '' Dreamgirls '' was nominated for the award '' '' in 2007 . Ultimately , " Be Our Guest " lost to the film 's title song . In an interview with '' Entertainment Weekly '' , '' Beauty and the Beast '' producer Don Hahn revealed that Disney feared that having three songs nominated for Best Original Song would result in a draw or three-way tie . Therefore , while " Beauty and the Beast " received heavy promotion from the studio , significantly less was given to " Be Our Guest " and " Belle . " " Be Our Guest " was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song at the 49th Golden Globe Awards in 1992 , losing again to " Beauty and the Beast . " In 2004 , the American Film Institute nominated " Be Our Guest " for its " 100 Years … 100 Songs " ranking
49th Golden Globe Awards
49th Golden Globe Awards
Be Our Guest