I can't remember the name of the animate handheld thing. I am looking for a toy that you could animate from the 80's it came with a book with pictures of stuff you could animate. example: Cat running etc......

it sounds like a pixter, but i don't think they were out until the 90's.

Could it be a Magnadoodle?

I looked up Magnadoodle on ebay but none of the ones being sold are the original 70s/80s ones, but rather newer versions of the original. The original was red or redy brown from memory & had a dial on each side which you use to draw pictures on the screen with. Whereas the more modern ones on eBay have a magnetic pen like object instead of the 2 dials & the actual magnadoodles themselves look more multi coloured instead of just a red or redy brown border around the screen. I remember it was extremly hard to draw anything with the old ones using those 2 dials.

this was nothing doodle it was a lil computer like thing that you put little boxes in place to make a picture of a man with his eyes wide open then you save that picture and go to the next picture and make one of his eyes closes and then save when you put both pictures to run it is winking.

I was thinking Etch a Sketch, but I think you already ruled that one out  :-\\

still sounds like a pixter...