I was just wondering if there is a fairly easy way to load .gif animations with directX? If not, how do I load animations into a game? (2D game)

As far as I know, Direct3D does not offer any functions for loading gif files, and I KNOW DirectDraw doesn't. But that doesn't stop you from writing your own.

As far as 2D sprite animations. Direct3D/Draw also doesn't have any support built right into it for such. You'll have to create your own mechanism, using sets of images stored in Direct3D/Draw interfaces.