diff --git a/include/wx/xrc/xmlres.h b/include/wx/xrc/xmlres.h
index 4622b3d8a7..23cbea1c51 100644
--- a/include/wx/xrc/xmlres.h
+++ b/include/wx/xrc/xmlres.h
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 #include "wx/icon.h"
 #include "wx/artprov.h"
 #include "wx/colour.h"
-#include "wx/animate.h"
 #include "wx/vector.h"
 
 #include "wx/xrc/xmlreshandler.h"
@@ -565,7 +564,7 @@ public:
 
 #if wxUSE_ANIMATIONCTRL
     // Gets an animation.
-    wxAnimation GetAnimation(const wxString& param = wxT("animation"));
+    wxAnimation* GetAnimation(const wxString& param = wxT("animation"));
 #endif
 
     // Gets a font.
diff --git a/include/wx/xrc/xmlreshandler.h b/include/wx/xrc/xmlreshandler.h
index 46eb374c18..d0ad233519 100644
--- a/include/wx/xrc/xmlreshandler.h
+++ b/include/wx/xrc/xmlreshandler.h
@@ -18,10 +18,11 @@
 #include "wx/string.h"
 #include "wx/artprov.h"
 #include "wx/colour.h"
-#include "wx/animate.h"
 #include "wx/filesys.h"
 #include "wx/imaglist.h"
 
+class WXDLLIMPEXP_FWD_ADV wxAnimation;
+
 class WXDLLIMPEXP_FWD_XML wxXmlNode;
 class WXDLLIMPEXP_FWD_XML wxXmlResource;
 
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ public:
     virtual wxImageList *GetImageList(const wxString& param = wxT("imagelist")) = 0;
 
 #if wxUSE_ANIMATIONCTRL
-    virtual wxAnimation GetAnimation(const wxString& param = wxT("animation")) = 0;
+    virtual wxAnimation* GetAnimation(const wxString& param = wxT("animation")) = 0;
 #endif
 
     virtual wxFont GetFont(const wxString& param = wxT("font"), wxWindow* parent = NULL) = 0;
@@ -305,7 +306,7 @@ protected:
     }
 
 #if wxUSE_ANIMATIONCTRL
-    wxAnimation GetAnimation(const wxString& param = wxT("animation"))
+    wxAnimation* GetAnimation(const wxString& param = wxT("animation"))
     {
         return GetImpl()->GetAnimation(param);
     }
diff --git a/samples/xrc/myframe.cpp b/samples/xrc/myframe.cpp
index 6662b34597..509ea31833 100644
--- a/samples/xrc/myframe.cpp
+++ b/samples/xrc/myframe.cpp
@@ -51,7 +51,8 @@
 #include "custclas.h"
 // And our objref dialog, for the object reference and ID range example.
 #include "objrefdlg.h"
-// For functions to manipulate our wxTreeCtrl and wxListCtrl
+// For functions to manipulate the corresponding controls.
+#include "wx/animate.h"
 #include "wx/treectrl.h"
 #include "wx/listctrl.h"
 
diff --git a/src/xrc/xh_animatctrl.cpp b/src/xrc/xh_animatctrl.cpp
index 6bded88fdc..b912f1b92b 100644
--- a/src/xrc/xh_animatctrl.cpp
+++ b/src/xrc/xh_animatctrl.cpp
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 #include "wx/xrc/xh_animatctrl.h"
 #include "wx/animate.h"
+#include "wx/scopedptr.h"
 
 IMPLEMENT_DYNAMIC_CLASS(wxAnimationCtrlXmlHandler, wxXmlResourceHandler)
 
@@ -33,9 +34,11 @@ wxObject *wxAnimationCtrlXmlHandler::DoCreateResource()
 {
     XRC_MAKE_INSTANCE(ctrl, wxAnimationCtrl)
 
+    wxScopedPtr<wxAnimation> animation(GetAnimation(wxT("animation")));
+
     ctrl->Create(m_parentAsWindow,
                   GetID(),
-                  GetAnimation(wxT("animation")),
+                  animation ? *animation : wxNullAnimation,
                   GetPosition(), GetSize(),
                   GetStyle(wxT("style"), wxAC_DEFAULT_STYLE),
                   GetName());
diff --git a/src/xrc/xmladv.cpp b/src/xrc/xmladv.cpp
index 6f6f36067a..729c5b2892 100644
--- a/src/xrc/xmladv.cpp
+++ b/src/xrc/xmladv.cpp
@@ -33,42 +33,45 @@
     #include "wx/log.h"
 #endif // WX_PRECOMP
 
+#include "wx/animate.h"
+#include "wx/scopedptr.h"
+
 // ============================================================================
 // implementation
 // ============================================================================
 
 #if wxUSE_ANIMATIONCTRL
-wxAnimation wxXmlResourceHandlerImpl::GetAnimation(const wxString& param)
+wxAnimation* wxXmlResourceHandlerImpl::GetAnimation(const wxString& param)
 {
     const wxString name = GetParamValue(param);
     if ( name.empty() )
-        return wxNullAnimation;
+        return NULL;
 
     // load the animation from file
-    wxAnimation ani;
+    wxScopedPtr<wxAnimation> ani(new wxAnimation);
 #if wxUSE_FILESYSTEM
     wxFSFile * const
         fsfile = GetCurFileSystem().OpenFile(name, wxFS_READ | wxFS_SEEKABLE);
     if ( fsfile )
     {
-        ani.Load(*fsfile->GetStream());
+        ani->Load(*fsfile->GetStream());
         delete fsfile;
     }
 #else
-    ani.LoadFile(name);
+    ani->LoadFile(name);
 #endif
 
-    if ( !ani.IsOk() )
+    if ( !ani->IsOk() )
     {
         ReportParamError
         (
             param,
             wxString::Format("cannot create animation from \"%s\"", name)
         );
-        return wxNullAnimation;
+        return NULL;
     }
 
-    return ani;
+    return ani.release();
 }
 #endif // wxUSE_ANIMATIONCTRL