The GdkPixBuf library provides a simple mechanism to load and represent animations. An animation is conceptually a series of frames to be displayed over time. The animation may not be represented as a series of frames internally; for example, it may be stored as a sprite and instructions for moving the sprite around a background. To display an animation you don't need to understand its representation, however; you just ask GdkPixBuf what should be displayed at a given point in time.