The present invention is a system, method, and computer readable medium for controlling the downloading and display of animated sequences from a server to a client. A user chooses which, if any, animated sequences to view on a Web page. Before downloading a graphics file associated with a particular Web page, the server checks the file to determine if it contains any animated sequences. If the graphics file contains an animated sequence, the server only downloads the first graphic image of the animated sequence. This first graphic image is presented as a static image to the user. By only downloading the first graphic image, download time is reduced and less memory and disk space is used in the client. The user views the static image presented on the screen, and then determines if he wishes to view the entire animated sequence. If so, the user indicates that he wishes to view the entire animated sequence. The server then downloads and executes the entire graphics file, allowing the user to view the entire animated sequence.