Generi - Free Maya 5 Character Animation Rig
The Generi rig is a simple model with a production quality rig perfect for learning character animation. He includes full lip sync and facial controls. Hamish McKenzie's very cool 'trigger UI' selection interface is also setup on the character.

Go to this Page for a few handy mel scripts to help animation workflow. Thanks to Dave Peers and Howard Fuller for writing some of these:

Display Marking Menu
Animation Hold - By David Peers
Snap Keys To Current Time (retain spacing) - By David Peers
Snap Keys To Current Time
Align Keys to Integer Time - By Howard Fuller
Key Frame Scaler - by David Peers

How to Install .mel scripts
Mel Links