"A Christmas Carol," Walt Disney Studios' latest animated tribute to Christmas has beat Sony's feature-length documentary depicting the late pop icon Michael Jackson's rehearsal "This Is It," and rose atop the North America box office over the weekend, projected statistics show Sunday.

The first IMAX 3D animated fantasy released by Disney, "A Christmas Carol" fetched US$31 million, a slight lower-than- expected harvest that anyway eclipsed Michael Jackson's tribute " This Is It." This animation is Disney's third adaptation from English writer Charles Dickens' timeless classic that was published in 1843. It tells an old miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, who, with the help of three ghosts, realizes the sharp of his own personality before kindness goes into his otherwise cold heart.

The film marks the first time for Jim Carrey to enter into cooperation with Disney. He voiced as Ebenezer Scrooge and three other roles. This is also the first movie that director Robert Zemeckis worked on with Disney since they last cooperated on animated-live action hybrid "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" in 1988. The IMAX 3D computer technology applied in animated movies of "The Polar Express "(2004) and "Beowulf" (2007) were also used on the flick.

"This Is It" trailed in second place with US$14 million in estimated sales this weekend, a drop of 40 percent from the first weekend when it debuted in theaters in the United States and Canada, and is on track for a 58 million domestic take during its two-week run, North America box office authorities said.

Opening in third place this weekend is "The Men Who Stare at Goats," a George Clooney comedy drama from Overture Films, which premiered with a projected US$13.3 million in sales in less than 2500 theaters. It was based on a war novel written by English reporter Jon Ronson in a bid to investigate attempts by US military forces to use psychic powers. Some critics find its tone of satire and dark humor.

Rounding out the top five are: Universal's horror thriller "The Fourth Kind" debuting with US$12.5 million; and Paramount's " Paranormal Activity" with US$8.6 million this weekend and US$97.4 million over seven weeks.

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