1. A method for repainting the image on a desktop uncovered by the movement of a character of an animated character sequence, said method comprising: specifying a boundary box enclosing an area of a desktop image that will include the character in a frame of the animated character sequence; storing a bitmap of the portion of the desktop image located within the area enclosed by the boundary box behind the location where the animated character is displayed; displaying the animated character; determining the area within the boundary box exposed by a change in the position of the character in the next frame of the animated character sequence; extracting information from the stored bitmap associated only with the exposed area within the boundary box; painting the desktop using the extracted information; and displaying the character in the next frame of the animated character sequence.