Be Our Guest

"Be Our Guest" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman for Walt Disney Pictures' thirtieth animated feature film Beauty and the Beast. Originally recorded by American actor Jerry Orbach and English actress Angela Lansbury in their film roles as the characters Lumiere and Mrs. Potts, "Be Our Guest" is an up-tempo Broadway and cabaret-style song. In the film, the song is performed in the style of a large-scale musical number by the castle's staff of enchanted servants to Belle in an attempt to make her feel welcome.

"Be Our Guest" has enjoyed mostly positive reception from critics, many of whom described it as one of the highlights of the film and its soundtrack. The song was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and an Academy Award in the same category, but lost both to the title song from the film.

This song was the title song for the tape, Disney Sing-Along Songs: Be Our Guest.

Lyrics
Lumiere: Ma cherie 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!

''Be... our... guest!''

Be our guest! Put our service to the test Tie your napkin 'round your neck, cherie And we'll provide the rest

Soup du jour Hot hors d'oeuvres Why, we only live to serve Try the grey stuff It's delicious! Don't believe me? Ask the dishes

They can sing! They can dance! After all, Miss, this is France! And the dinner here is never second best!

Go on, unfold your menu Take a glance and then you'll Be our guest Oui, our guest Be our guest!

Lumiere and Chorus: Beef ragout, Cheese souffle, Pie and pudding "en flambe" Lumiere: We'll prepare and serve with flair A culinary cabaret!

You're alone And you're scared But the banquet's all prepared No one's gloomy or complaining While the flatware's entertaining

We tell jokes, I do tricks! With my fellow candlesticks Chorus: And it's all in perfect taste That you can bet

Come on and lift your glass You've won your own free pass To be our guest Lumiere: If you're stressed It's fine dining we suggest! Lumiere and Chorus: Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest!

Lumiere: Life is so unnerving For a servant who's not serving He's not whole without a soul to wait upon Ah, those good old days when we were useful Suddenly those good old days are gone

Ten years we've been rusting Needing so much more than dusting Needing exercise, a chance to use our skills! Most days we just lay around the castle Flabby, fat and lazy You walked in, and oops-a-daisy!

Mrs Potts: It's a guest! It's a guest! Sakes alive, well I'll be blessed! Wine's been poured and thank the Lord I've had the napkins freshly pressed

With dessert She'll want tea And my dear that's fine with me While the cups do their soft-shoein' I'll be bubbling, I'll be brewing

I'll get warm Piping hot Heaven's sakes! Is that a spot? Clean it up! We want the company impressed

Chorus: We've got a lot to do! Mrs Potts: Is it one lump or two? For you, our guest! Chorus: She's our guest! Mrs Potts: She's our guest! Chorus: She's our guest!

Chorus: Be our guest Be our guest Our command is your request It's been years since we've had anybody here And we're obsessed

With your meal With your ease Yes, indeed, we aim to please While the candlelight's still glowing Let us help you We'll keep going

Lumiere and chorus: Course by course! One by one! 'Til you shout, "Enough! I'm done!" Then we'll sing you off to sleep as you digest

Tonight you'll prop your feet up But for now, let's eat up Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest! Please, be our guest!

Broadway Version
Lumiere: 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!

Be our guest! Be our guest! Put our service to the test Tie your napkin 'round your neck, cherie And we'll provide the rest Soup du jour Hot hors d'oeuvres Why, we only live to serve Try the grey stuff Chip: It's delicious Lumiere: Don't believe me? Ask the dishes They can sing, they can dance After all, Miss, this is France And a dinner here is never second best Go on, unfold your menu Take a glance and then you'll Be our guest Oui, our guest Be our guest! Lumiere and Chorus: Beef ragout Cheese souffle Pie and pudding "en flambe" Lumiere: We'll prepare and serve with flair A culinary cabaret! You're alone And you're scared But the banquet's all prepared No one's gloomy or complaining While the flatware's entertaining We tell jokes! I do tricks With my fellow candlesticks Chorus: And it's all in perfect taste That you can bet Come on and lift your glass You've won your own free pass To be out guest Lumiere: If you're stressed It's fine dining we suggest

Chorus: Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest! Get your worries off your chest Let us say for your entree We've an array; may we suggest: Try the bread! Try the soup! When the croutons loop de loop It's a treat for any dinner Don't belive me? Ask the china Singing pork! Dancing veal! What an entertaining meal! How could anyone be gloomy and depressed? We'll make you shout "encore!" And send us out for more So, be our guest! Lumiere: Be our guest! Chorus: Be our guest! Mrs Potts: It's a guest! It's a guest! Sakes alive, well I'll be blessed! Wine's been poured and thank the Lord I've had the napkins freshly pressed With dessert, she'll want tea And my dear that's fine with me While the cups do their soft-shoein' I'll be bubbling, I'll be brewing I'll get warm, piping hot Heaven's sakes! Is that a spot? Clean it up! We want the company impressed Chorus: We've got a lot to do! Mrs Potts: Is it one lump or two? For you, our guest! 'Chorus: She's our guest! Mrs Potts: She's our guest! Chorus: She's our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest! Lumiere: Life is so unnerving For a servant who's not serving He's not whole without a soul to wait upon Ah, those good old days when we were useful... Suddenly those good old days are gone Ten years we've been rusting Needing so much more than dusting Needing exercise, a chance to use our skills! Most days we just lay around the castle Flabby, fat and lazy You walked in and oops-a-daisy! Chorus: Be our guest! Be our guest! Our command is your request It's been years since we've had anybody here And we're obsessed With your meal, with your ease Yes, indeed, we aim to please While the candlelight's still glowing Let us help you, We'll keep going Course by course, one by one 'Til you shout, "Enough! I'm done!" Then we'll sing you off to sleep as you digest Tonight you'll prop your feet up But for now, let's eat up Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest! Please, be our guest!

Disney On Ice Lyrics
Lumiere: Ma cherie 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!

''Be... our... guest!''

Be our guest! Put our service to the test Tie your napkin 'round your neck, cherie And we'll provide the rest

Soup du jour Hot hors d'oeuvres Why, we only live to serve Try the grey stuff It's delicious! Don't believe me? Ask the dishes

They can sing! They can dance! After all, Miss, this is France! And the dinner here is never second best!

Go on, unfold your menu Take a glance and then you'll Be our guest Oui, our guest Be our guest!

Lumiere and Chorus: Beef ragout, Cheese souffle, Pie and pudding "en flambe" Lumiere: We'll prepare and serve with flair A culinary cabaret!

You're alone And you're scared But the banquet's all prepared No one's gloomy or complaining While the flatware's entertaining

We tell jokes, I do tricks! With my fellow candlesticks Chorus: And it's all in perfect taste That you can bet

Come on and lift your glass You've won your own free pass To be our guest Lumiere: If you're stressed It's fine dining we suggest! Lumiere and Chorus: Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest!

Chorus: Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest!

Chorus: Be our guest Be our guest Our command is your request It's been years since we've had anybody here And we're obsessed

With your meal With your ease Yes, indeed, we aim to please While the candlelight's still glowing Let us help you We'll keep going

Lumiere and chorus: Course by course! One by one! 'Til you shout, "Enough! I'm done!" Then we'll sing you off to sleep as you digest

Tonight you'll prop your feet up But for now, let's eat up Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest! Please, be our guest!

Chorus: Be our guest!

Background
Originally, Beauty and the Beast, under the direction of Richard Purdum, was not intended to be a musical. Then-studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg made the decision to turn the film into a Broadway-style musical similar to The Little Mermaid (1989), Disney's previous animated film, after he, displeased with the film's initial story reel, ordered the film scrapped and restarted from scratch. As a result, Purdum resigned, and first-time feature film directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale replaced him.

In lieu of the Academy Award-winning success of The Little Mermaid, Katzenberg asked the The Little Mermaid songwriting duo of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken to write the songs for and score Beauty and the Beast. At first Ashman, who was at the time writing songs with Menken for a recently pitched film idea called Aladdin, was reluctant to join the struggling film project, but eventually agreed.

The original version of "Be Our Guest" was written by Ashman and Menken to be sung by the enchanted objects to Maurice instead of Belle. However, story artist Bruce Woodside felt that the song would make more sense if it was sung to Belle, the main character, as opposed secondary character Maurice, and directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale agreed. Despite the fact that the scene was already near completion, a costly and timely effort was made to re-script and animate the scene and re-write the song to incorporate Belle.

Composition
"Be Our Guest" was written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman, and has a length of three minutes and forty-four seconds. According to MusicNotes, "Be Our Guest" is a lively Broadway musical-style number written in common time in the key of B♭ major. Orbach's vocal range spans roughly three octaves, from F3 to D♭6. Drawing its influence from musical theatre and French music, its instrumentation is heavily reliant on strings, winds, keyboards, and various band-like percussion instruments.

The melody is almost exactly the same as a melody from the first movement of Mahler's Third Symphony.

Reception
Critics have praised "Be Our Guest," many calling it a highlight of the film and its soundtrack. Tavia Hobart of Allmusic, in review of the film's soundtrack, wrote, "While not as good as the Little Mermaid score, the [Beauty and the Beast soundtrack] has its moments, such as 'Be Our Guest.'" Drew Taylor of IndieWire described the song as "show-stopping." In review of the film's 2001 Special Edition soundtrack, Brad Green of Urban Cinefile gave the song a fairly positive review, calling it"...a spark of Gallic vaudeville that lights a flame to both Maurice Chevalier and Yves Montand." Green continued, "...but it doesn’t stand above fine songs like 'Something There,' or 'Human Again'.

"Be Our Guest" was nominated for several awards. The song was one of the three from Beauty and the Beast that were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 64th Academy Awards in 1992, alongside "Belle" and the film's title song, "Beauty and the Beast." Ultimately, "Be Our Guest" lost to "Beauty and the Beast." "Be Our Guest" was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song the same year, but again lost to the film's title song.

Covers and parodies
Mr. Burns parodied the song as "See My Vest" for "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds", a 1995 episode of The Simpsons.

In the Animaniacs parody episode "Cutie and the Beast", Yakko and Wakko Warner sing a version entitled "She's a Pest."

In 1995, Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Chipettes covered the song for their Disney-themed album When You Wish Upon a Chipmunk.

An Oscar-themed rendition of the song was performed by Seth MacFarlane at the 85th Academy Awards.

Stage and live versions
Actor Jerry Orbach performed "Be Our Guest" live in character as Lumiere at the 64th Academy Awards in 1992. Less than two years later, "Be Our Guest" was featured as a musical number in the now-closed Broadway adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, originally performed by Gary Beach as Lumiere and Beth Fowler as Mrs. Potts.

Trivia

 * This song was originally to be sung to Maurice, but Bruce Woodside suggested that it should be sung to Belle because she's the focus. Everyone then knew Bruce was right, and they brought Howard Ashman to write new lyrics and re-storyboarded the scene with Belle instead of Maurice. Notably, a clip of Angela Lansbury recording Mrs. Potts' lines in the original version of the song can be seen on the Beauty and the Beast trailer featured on the 1991 VHS release of The Jungle Book.
 * In the Spanish Version, this song is called Que Festín! which translates as What a Feast.