>I tried setting the control to an animated gif at design time but if I change the picture at run time to a different animated gif the new one shows up but with no animation. Is there anything else I can try?

You're correct, it doesn't work in runtime. I'm not sure why I thought it would. Sorry about that.
Check GDIPlusX from http://www.codeplex.com/VFPX/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=8606. Download Demo and run AnimatedGif.scx form