Chicken Run, the first full-length animated movie from the creators of Wallace & Gromit, has started to feather the nests of investors in several companies with an interest in the film.

The remake of the Great Escape, starring Mel Gibson as heart throb Rocky the Rooster and on general release in Britain from today, grossed $17.5m (£11m) on its opening weekend in the United States, making it the second most popular film at the box office after the latest Jim Carrey offering.

Anticipation of similar success in Britain has helped free shares in merchandising firm Character Group from the torpor they have suffered since issuing a profits warning in April.

Character shares slumped by 26% when it warned that demand for products relating to Star Wars: The Phantom Menace had been significantly lower than expected. Its shares climbed 30% to 139.5p yesterday, however, on hopes that products such as a deluxe, motion-sensing Rocky room guard - which detects the approach of parents - and a rapid-firing chicken pie-thrower would have children across Europe rushing to their local toy shop.

"Chicken Run will clearly be of benefit to Character Group and help ease it towards its targets for the year but the film has limited appeal com pared to Star Wars," said one analyst.Stationery manufacturer International Greetings saw its shares climb 24% to 315p after it announced that it had won an exclusive European licence to produce Chicken Run stationery.

Other companies likely to benefit from Chicken Run mania include computer games company Eidos.

It recently secured publishing rights to Sony Playstation and PC versions of the official game to the film.