@andrewvonpelt My impack plugin will load GIFs, via its image.xload() function. The example that comes with it shows this off, using a (free) companion plugin.
(Disclaimer: this and another plugin or two probably need some iOS maintenance. I’m hoping to finally get around to this and some bugfixes before Christmas, since then I’ll probably not have a Mac handy for a while; optimistically, I’ll get on it next week.)