A doll capable of raising itself in a natural realistic manner from a generally prone position on a supporting surface to either a sitting position or a standing position. The doll includes a pair of legs pivotally mounted on the doll's torso for movement about their respective axes in a timed sequence and a drive mechanism including a motor and a pair of cams which control the timed leg movements. In operation, the doll is placed in a prone face down position on a suitable supporting surface with its legs aligned with the torso in a generally horizontal position. Upon activation of the drive mechanism, one leg is pivoted downwardly approximately 150.degree. to a position generally alongside the torso and then remains in that position while the second leg is brought forward to a position in generally parallel alignment adjacent the opposite side of the torso. Continued energization of the drive mechanism causes the torso to pivot upwardly to a sitting position. The head of the doll is movable between two positions to determine the shutoff time of the drive mechanism. In its forward tilted position, the drive mechanism is shut off when the doll assumes a sitting position. The rearward position of the head permits the drive mechanism to continue to operate until the doll reaches a standing position.

An animated character such as a Santa figure which is capable of moving repeatedly from a sitting to a standing position, and also producing vocal speaking or singing sounds synchronized with movements of the character. The character includes a body having a torso casing containing an electric motor and multiple gears, a head-piece capable of making side-to-side nodding motions, and multiple lever members provided on opposite sides of the casing and pivotably connected together so as to produce the repeated standing motions of the character from a sitting position. Operation of the character is controlled by an electric circuit which is operated either manually or from a light-sensitive switch which can sense motion of any nearby moving object or person and activate movements of the character.

A doll includes a body and a head, two legs and two arms, each movably attached to the body. The doll includes a mechanism connected with the head, with each of the legs, and with the arms. The mechanism is configured to displace the legs frontwardly with respect to the body in alternating succession and to displace the head in lateral directions with respect to the body such that the head moves toward one lateral side of the body as one of the legs displaces frontwardly from the opposite lateral side of the body. Movement of the legs displaces the body of the doll in either a walking or a crawling mode. Further, a motor is connected with the mechanism to drive the mechanism to displace the legs, arms and head with respect to the body. An electrical circuit is connected with the motor and has a microphone. The circuit is configured to drive the motor when the microphone receives sound, particularly a user-generated command. Preferably, the circuit includes an integrated circuit chip configured to drive the motor for a randomly specified period of time. The mechanism preferably includes a gear train having an input end connected with the motor and output ends connected with the legs, the arms and the head. Further, the mechanism preferably includes several separate linkages connected with the legs, the arms and the head, each linkage pivoting the associated appendages or the head with respect to the body.