Digital Puppet

I want to build a real time controlled digital puppet. The puppet will be controlled by a game controller. The opening and closing of the mouth should be digitally proportional to the joystick movement. Mouth movement does not necessarily have to be realistic. Can be like a puppet (muppet). One joystick controls mouth movement. The other joystick controls puppet body movement. Body movement can be limited in the initial development. Moving left and right, on and off screen. Possibly into background and back to a home position which is like a traditional puppet (waist up with a close view of the head). Puppet should have some idle motion while stationary (eyes blinking and some small head and body movement) Puppet does not have to talk while moving and does not have to interact with other puppets. Controller buttons control simple facial expressions (ie no expression (normal), happy, sad, angry) I would prefer the character to be an animal but humanoid (ie walks upright). Stock characters are acceptable for initial development. Background can be a simple scene that suits the character in context. (dog in a back yard with doghouse; beaver in a wooded are near a stream etc) Puppet voice is supplied by the person controlling the puppet. No lip syncing required in initial development. I really want to keep the project simple and low cost to prove the concept so I am willing to sacrifice some features if necessary. Here are some examples of what I am thinking about: [login to view URL] [login to view URL] [login to view URL] The outcome is to have a live person interacting with the puppet in real time with an audience.