CONCORD, N.C. - They have turned ones and zeros into magic. They have made fish and bugs talk. They have brought out the emotional inner life of toys, monsters and now cars.
    
With those successes, the brains behind Pixar Animation Studios - filmmaker John Lasseter and company president, and Utah native, Ed Catmull - now face a tougher challenge: Bringing the Disney Animation Studios, home of Mickey Mouse and the Little Mermaid, back to life.
    
The Walt Disney Company's $7.4 billion acquisition of Pixar last January brings together the venerated Disney studio, which has been in a creative slump, with the high-tech Pixar, which is riding a winning streak since "Toy Story" debuted in 1995.

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Cars, the animated road-trip movie from Walt Disney Co.'s Pixar, opened at No. 1 in North America, missing analysts' projections with an estimated $62.8 million in ticket sales.

The film was expected to bring in $72 million, the average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. ``Cars'' was the third-highest opener of the six produced by Pixar, film tracker Exhibitor Relations Co. said in a statement.

`Cars'' is the first movie from Pixar since Disney completed the $8.06 billion purchase of its former partner last month. Its lukewarm reception may be a setback for Disney Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger, 55, who gambled that Pixar can extend its streak of six straight hits and revive the animation department.``Cars,'' written and directed by John Lasseter, features the voice of Owen Wilson as a race car named Lightning McQueen. After he's stranded in the desert town of Radiator Springs, McQueen has to re-evaluate his goal of competing in for a championship. The film also features the voices of Bonnie Hunt, Cheech Marin and Paul Newman.

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