Customizable animations for text messages

1. A system to animate an instant-messaging message, the system comprising one or more computing devices including one or more processors and memories containing program code for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more computing devices configured to:

receive a message to animate and send,

wherein the message to animate and send includes one or more text and/or emoji characters;

receive a selected animation command to apply a type of animation to the message;

generate an animation of the message by applying the commanded type of animation to the message;

display the generated animation of the message; and

receive a selection to send the message to a recipient over a communications network so that the recipient can see the message animated according to the selected animation command.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the one or more computing devices include a sender device that is a mobile phone, a tablet, a laptop, or a desktop personal computer.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the program code for execution by the one or more processors is a messaging app or program on the sender device, and wherein the message to animate and send is entered via an input interface of the messaging app or program on the sender device.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the messaging app or program allows a user to directly select a desired Unicode emoji or emoji image to include in the message.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein receiving the selected animation command to apply a type of animation to the message further includes receiving an indication that a user wishes to animate the message.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the selected animation command to apply a type of animation to the message is one of a set of provided animation commands.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the type of animation is one of a set of pre-coded types of animation.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the selected animation command to apply a type of animation to the message includes altering a size of a character or image of the message.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the selected animation command to apply a type of animation to the message includes moving a character or image of the message, so that the message moves in relation to other characters on a display.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the selected animation command to apply a type of animation to the message includes rotating a character or image of the message.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the selected animation command to apply a type of animation to the message includes changing a color of a character or image of the message.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein generating an animation of the message by applying the commanded type of animation to the message includes generating a series of images of the message processed according to the commanded type of animation.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein displaying the generated animation of the message includes sending the generated animation of the message to a display.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein displaying the generated animation of the message includes showing a user the generated animation of the message prior to sending the message and allowing the user to correct the selected animation command to apply a type of animation to the message.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein receiving a selection to send the message to a recipient over a communications network so that the recipient can see the message animated according to the selected animation command includes receiving a selection to send the message to the recipient as an instant-messaging protocol message.

16. The system of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to receiving the selection to send the message to a recipient, sending the message over a communications network using an instant-messaging protocol.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the system is configured to send the message in a format that allows the recipient to see the message animated according to the selected animation command.

18. The system of claim 1 wherein the system allows a user to apply a selected animation from a set of pre-coded animations with a minimum of required input.

19. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions to animate an instant-messaging message that, when executed by one or more processors in one or more computing devices, configure the computing devices to:

receive a message to animate and send,

wherein the message to animate and send includes one or more text and/or emoji characters;

receive a selected animation command to apply a type of animation to the message;

generate an animation of the message by applying the commanded type of animation to the message;

display the generated animation of the message; and

receive a selection to send the message to a recipient over a communications network so that the recipient can see the message animated according to the selected animation command.

20. A method to allow a user to animate an instant-messaging message, comprising providing machine-readable instructions executable by a computing system to:

receive, from the user, in a memory, a message to animate and send,

wherein the message to animate and send includes one or more text and/or emoji characters;

receive a selected animation command to apply a type of animation to the message;

generate, by a processor, an animation of the message by applying the commanded type of animation to the message;

output the generated animation of the message to a display; and

receive a selection to send the message to a recipient over a communications network connected to a network interface so that the recipient can see the message animated according to the selected animation command.