I just finished this-
Hopefully someone finds the information useful. I'll be adding more to it as I create new projects. 
Jerome
Jerome,
What a great arduino project!
Just FYI if you are looking to do solely animation (with servos, pneumatics, or hydraulic) Alan Bradely (ab.com) makes a great off-the-shelf unit at a price that is pretty comparable to a full Arduino set up that does the same thing. I think the unit I am describing is called the 'Pico'.