Spent a bit of time working on it this weekend, and this is what I've got thus far (click on the images to view them full size):
Very much still a work in progress (and lots of sloppy gluing and other unskilled making), but starting to resemble what I had in mind.
I need to find a way to hide the battery sticking out top of the head - I'm thinking a top hat (where does one get a top hat for a chimp?), and some type of diffuser for the scroll pHAT, maybe made out of paper, decorated in an interesting way.
I welcome all ideas and suggestions.