diff --git a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/MediaViewImagePanel.java b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/MediaViewImagePanel.java
index f4b971961a..c34f465589 100644
--- a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/MediaViewImagePanel.java
+++ b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/MediaViewImagePanel.java
@@ -249,6 +249,16 @@ public class MediaViewImagePanel extends JPanel implements DataContentViewerMedi
         protected Image call() throws Exception {
             updateMessage(Bundle.LoadImageTask_mesageText(file.getName()));
             try (InputStream inputStream = new BufferedInputStream(new ReadContentInputStream(file));) {
+
+                if (ImageUtils.isGIF(file)) {
+                    //directly read GIF to preserve potential animation,
+                    Image image = new Image(new BufferedInputStream(inputStream));
+                    if (image.isError() == false) {
+                        return image;
+                    }
+                    //fall through to default iamge reading code if there was an error
+                }
+
                 ImageInputStream input = ImageIO.createImageInputStream(inputStream);
                 if (input == null) {
                     throw new IIOException("Could not create ImageInputStream."); //NOI18N
diff --git a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/coreutils/ImageUtils.java b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/coreutils/ImageUtils.java
index d44111a231..bec4a9acbd 100755
--- a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/coreutils/ImageUtils.java
+++ b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/coreutils/ImageUtils.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
  */
 package org.sleuthkit.autopsy.coreutils;
 
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableSortedSet;
 import com.google.common.io.Files;
 import java.awt.Image;
 import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Objects;
 import static java.util.Objects.isNull;
+import static java.util.Objects.nonNull;
 import java.util.SortedSet;
 import java.util.TreeSet;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executor;
@@ -76,8 +78,11 @@ public class ImageUtils {
     private static final Logger logger = LOGGER;
     private static final BufferedImage DEFAULT_THUMBNAIL;
 
+    private static final String IMAGE_GIF_MIME = "image/gif";
+    private static final SortedSet<String> GIF_MIME_SET = ImmutableSortedSet.copyOf(new String[]{IMAGE_GIF_MIME});
+
     private static final List<String> SUPPORTED_IMAGE_EXTENSIONS;
-    private static final TreeSet<String> SUPPORTED_IMAGE_MIME_TYPES;
+    private static final SortedSet<String> SUPPORTED_IMAGE_MIME_TYPES;
     private static final List<String> CONDITIONAL_MIME_TYPES = Arrays.asList("audio/x-aiff", "application/octet-stream");
 
     private static final boolean openCVLoaded;
@@ -124,7 +129,7 @@ public class ImageUtils {
                 "image/x-ms-bmp",
                 "image/x-portable-graymap",
                 "image/x-portable-bitmap",
-                "application/x-123"));
+                "application/x-123")); //TODO: is this correct? -jm
         SUPPORTED_IMAGE_MIME_TYPES.removeIf("application/octet-stream"::equals);
     }
 
@@ -200,6 +205,30 @@ public class ImageUtils {
                 || hasImageFileHeader(file);
     }
 
+    public static boolean isGIF(AbstractFile file) {
+        try {
+            final FileTypeDetector fileTypeDetector = getFileTypeDetector();
+            if (nonNull(fileTypeDetector)) {
+                String fileType = fileTypeDetector.getFileType(file);
+                return IMAGE_GIF_MIME.equalsIgnoreCase(fileType);
+            }
+        } catch (TskCoreException | FileTypeDetectorInitException ex) {
+            LOGGER.log(Level.WARNING, "Failed to get mime type with FileTypeDetector.", ex);
+        }
+        LOGGER.log(Level.WARNING, "Falling back on direct mime type check.");
+        switch (file.isMimeType(GIF_MIME_SET)) {
+
+            case TRUE:
+                return true;
+            case UNDEFINED:
+                LOGGER.log(Level.WARNING, "Falling back on extension check.");
+                return "gif".equals(file.getNameExtension());
+            case FALSE:
+            default:
+                return false;
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Check if a file is "supported" by checking it mimetype and extension
      *
diff --git a/ImageGallery/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/imagegallery/FileTypeUtils.java b/ImageGallery/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/imagegallery/FileTypeUtils.java
index f73d136df5..bddfe6f1e7 100644
--- a/ImageGallery/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/imagegallery/FileTypeUtils.java
+++ b/ImageGallery/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/imagegallery/FileTypeUtils.java
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ import static java.util.Objects.isNull;
 import static java.util.Objects.nonNull;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.Set;
-import java.util.TreeSet;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
@@ -81,10 +80,6 @@ public enum FileTypeUtils {
      */
     private static FileTypeDetector FILE_TYPE_DETECTOR;
 
-    private static final String IMAGE_GIF_MIME = "image/gif";
-
-    private static final TreeSet<String> GIF_MIME_SET = new TreeSet<>(Arrays.asList(IMAGE_GIF_MIME));
-
     /**
      * static initalizer block to initialize sets of extensions and mimetypes to
      * be supported
@@ -161,7 +156,8 @@ public enum FileTypeUtils {
         return FILE_TYPE_DETECTOR;
     }
 
-    /** is the given file supported by image analyzer? ie, does it have a
+    /**
+     * is the given file supported by image analyzer? ie, does it have a
      * supported mime type (image/*, or video/*). if no mime type is found, does
      * it have a supported extension or a jpeg/png header?
      *
@@ -181,27 +177,7 @@ public enum FileTypeUtils {
     }
 
     public static boolean isGIF(AbstractFile file) {
-        try {
-            final FileTypeDetector fileTypeDetector = getFileTypeDetector();
-            if (nonNull(fileTypeDetector)) {
-                String fileType = fileTypeDetector.getFileType(file);
-                return IMAGE_GIF_MIME.equalsIgnoreCase(fileType);
-            }
-        } catch (TskCoreException ex) {
-            LOGGER.log(Level.WARNING, "Failed to get mime type with FileTypeDetector.", ex);
-        }
-        LOGGER.log(Level.WARNING, "Falling back on direct mime type check.");
-        switch (file.isMimeType(GIF_MIME_SET)) {
-
-            case TRUE:
-                return true;
-            case UNDEFINED:
-                LOGGER.log(Level.WARNING, "Falling back on extension check.");
-                return "gif".equals(file.getNameExtension());
-            case FALSE:
-            default:
-                return false;
-        }
+        return ImageUtils.isGIF(file);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -210,8 +186,8 @@ public enum FileTypeUtils {
      * @param file
      *
      * @return an Optional containg: True if the file has an image or video mime
-     *         type. False if a non image/video mimetype. empty Optional if
-     *         a mimetype could not be detected.
+     *         type. False if a non image/video mimetype. empty Optional if a
+     *         mimetype could not be detected.
      */
     static Optional<Boolean> hasDrawableMimeType(AbstractFile file) throws TskCoreException {