Charles Dickens made Ebenezer Scrooge famous in the 1843 novel “A Christmas Carol.” But Robert Zemeckis, an American film writer and director, hasn’t been pleased with films inspired by the novel.

After writing and directing “Beowulf”, featuring Angelina Jolie, he was inspired to create his own remake of the Christmas tale.

His version of “A Christmas Carol” is an animated film starring Jim Carrey. It premiers in theaters Friday.

Carrey plays Scrooge, a grumpy old man who despises anything to do with happiness or Christmas. He becomes haunted by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come on his way to finding happiness.

“Scrooge isn’t a bad man,” Zemeckis said in a conference call. “He just doesn’t know what to do with his scarred past.”

Zemeckis said he feels strongly that you have to have dark before you can have the light.

“I think that’s why it is a timeless story, a great story, and why we can all relate to that character so well,” he said.

Many films have been inspired by Scrooge’s character, but Robert Zemeckis said the suspense of the character has been watered down.

With advances in technology, Zemeckis said his version of “A Christmas Carol” will be true to Dickins’ novel.

“You have the underlying intellectual material that is what Mr. Dickens wrote, and you embellish it with performance, embellish it with music, embellish it with color, and embellish it with immersive 3-D image,” Zemeckis said.

When it came to a lead actor for the film, Zemeckis said he considered no one else but Carrey.

“When I finished, Jim was my first and only choice because I knew you needed someone with a magnificent sense of humor and the ability to do drama to make Scrooge as mean as Dickens originally wrote him,” he said.

Zemeckis said Jim is a great actor who can do any kind of character.

“Jim plays the ghosts that haunt Scrooge, as well as Scrooge in the same scene,” Zemeckis said. “The challenge is Jim has to do scenes with himself, but he’s such a great actor, it really wasn’t a problem.”

Carrey, known for improvization, is taking on a new role in what Zemeckis called a straight-forward dramatic performance.

“The amazing thing about Jim is when he acts, he acts with every muscle in his body, and so his whole body transforms into Scrooge,” Zemeckis said.

Zemeckis is best known for directing “Forrest Gump,” starring Tom Hanks. The film won six Academy Awards, and Zemeckis won Best Director.

Lately, with films such as “Beowulf” and “A Christmas Carol,” he has focused on revival of old stories.

“When I was doing ‘Beowolf,’ I realized this is a great chance to introduce classic stories to a new generation,” Zemeckis said. “Dickens is the greatest writer in the English language.”

Zemeckis said “A Christmas Carol” is one of the greatest stories ever written. He added that audiences might even want to go back to reading the book after seeing the movie.