There was a time such programs were readily available and I could name a dozen. Unfortunately, now, most of what i could name is no longer available.  Newtek used to make Aura (a nice little animation/video FX program), Pinnacle Systems used to have a program for this exact thing - though I forget the name, and as was mentioned there used to be a program known as Deluxe Paint (mostly Amiga, but it was also available on PC).  One way to do it, and an effective way that is overlooked, is actually using a combination of Photoshop and After Effects.  By using Layers in Photoshop you almost have an in-built light table, and it allows for a wide variety of special effects with hand drawn style animation; you just need to be sure to save each image  witha numericcly increasing filename (i.e. Animation001.jpg, Animation002.jpg, Animation003.jpg, etc...).  You can import PSD or JPG sequences with such numerical filenames directly into After Effects as a video clip, for compiling, compositing, or additional post-work.  Also, After Effects has an option when importing layered PSDs to import either as one image, or seperate them into different images - allowing for some truly unique effects with some planning.

Also, Gimp offers a variation known as GimpShop, which makes use of photoship filters and file formats, though last time I tried it there were some stability issues (this was years ago).

Hope this information is inspiring and helpful.

Also some of these software packages look as if they might be what you seek:

PM Animation

Beneton Movie Gif

Ulead Gif Animator

Digicel Flipbook 6

I could link to some useful reviews and such, but I am unsure how the admin feel about links in forum threads that may seem commercial.

 

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