'Carol' ends Jackson's UK reign

Carrey voices a number of characters, including the miserly Scrooge (r)

Disney animation A Christmas Carol has topped the UK and Ireland box office chart in its first week, displacing Michael Jackson's This Is It.

The new version of Dickens' seasonal tale, which stars Jim Carrey as the voice of Scrooge, raked in £1.89m.

Jackson's concert footage movie slid to two, while Pixar cartoon Up at three has made £31.4m over four weeks.

The Men Who Stare At Goats, which stars George Clooney, was a new entry at four with takings of £1.2m.

Science fiction thriller The Fourth Kind made its debut at number four, while horror movie Jennifer's Body was the only other entry inside the top 10 at seven.

While Up is the highest-grossing film on this week's chart, This Is It follows with total takings of more than £8m after just two weeks.