"The Saga Begins" is a parody song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It parodies "American Pie" by Don McLean, with lyrics that humorously summarize the plot of the film Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace through the point of view of Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the film's protagonists. The song's title, not mentioned in the lyrics, derives from a tagline that appeared in teaser trailers and the film poster for The Phantom Menace: "Every saga has a beginning". "The Saga Begins" was released as a single from the 1999 album Running with Scissors, and later appearing on the compilation album The Saga Begins. History Set to the tune of Don McLean's "American Pie", "The Saga Begins" recounts the plot of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, from Obi-Wan Kenobi's point of view. Yankovic gathered most of the information he needed to write the song from Internet spoilers. Lucasfilm declined a request for an advance screening, and Yankovic paid to attend a charity fundraiser pre-screening. He had done such an accurate job with the storyline that he made only minor alterations after the pre-screening. McLean approved of the song and, according to Yankovic, also has said that his children played it so much that "he'd start thinking about Jedis and Star Wars, and it would mess him up" in concert. According to Yankovic's website, Lucasfilm's official response to the song was, "You should've seen the smile on (George Lucas') face." This is the second Star Wars song Weird Al has created, with the first being 1980's "Yoda", a parody of "Lola" by The Kinks. Music video The video begins in the desert on the planet Tatooine. Yankovic, dressed like Obi-Wan Kenobi, the protagonist of Episode I, walks until he comes across Darth Sidious playing the piano. Yankovic uses the Force to get a resonator guitar, and in the second verse he reappears performing in a Mos Eisley cantina leading a band also dressed as Jedi. In the last verse, he returns to the desert; and in the last chorus, numerous "Obi-Wan" clones sing as a group. Some Star Wars characters can be seen, such as Queen Padmé Amidala (played by Al's cousin, Tammy), Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, and Yoda. The upper half of the pianist's face is always covered by the hood of the robe that he is wearing much like the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. When asked