Commonly depicted as a fat, jolly fellow, the Buddha never intended to be idolized or worshipped.

The following links lead to sites containing brief overviews of Buddhism Basics:

This link will take you directly to the Tricycle Magazine, a quarterly publication that has an educational charter to spread the teachings, or dharma, of Buddha. This link gives the very basics of Buddhism from a reputable organization. It outlines the essentials of Buddhism in a clear and comprehensible manner.

http://www.tricycle.com/buddhistbasics/index.html

This site offers an introduction to Buddhism. It covers the life of the founder, Siddhartha Guatama, the spread of Buddhism, Buddhist texts, Buddhist terms, women in Buddhism, and much more. It was constructed by a faculty member teaching in the Asian Studies department at Austrailian National University. The site, although a bit long, gives excellent insight to the basics of Buddhism and serves as a miniature introductory course for those without any knowledge of Buddhism.

http://online.anu.edu.au/asianstudies/textnotes/buddhism.html