The Big Game XXVI: Tom vs. Jerry (found Cartoon Network marathon special; 1998)

Title card as seen in The Big Game: A Look Back (2000)

Status: Lost

The Big Game XXVI: Tom vs. Jerry was the first in a series of four Super Bowl spoofs that aired annually on Cartoon Network from 1998-2001.

There would be a “pre-game” marathon of cartoons featuring the characters being pitted against one another, interspersed with tongue-in-cheek studio coverage by Len Dawson, Nick Buoniconti, Cris Collinsworth and Jerry Glanville.

The “games” themselves, held at Chuck Jones Stadium, consisted of cartoon clips with football sound effects and commentary by Pat Summerall and John Madden. There would even be an ersatz halftime show complete with fake commercials.

The last three Big Game specials (Sylvester vs. Tweety, Wile E. Coyote vs. Roadrunner, and Bugs vs. Daffy respectively) are all readily available on YouTube, but strangely, the first one is nowhere to be found. Some clips can be seen in “retrospectives” during other Big Games, though the actual special has never surfaced.

Gallery

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  Tom and Jerry's football helmets