DOES ANIMATION HELP build richer, more vivid, and more understandable visualizations, or simply confuse things?

The use of Java, Flash, Silverlight, and JavaScript on the Web has made it easier to distribute animated, interactive visualizations. Many visualizers are beginning to think about how to make their visualizations more compelling with animation. There are many good guides on how to make static visualizations more effective, and many applications support interactivity well. But animated visualization is still a new area; there is little consensus on what makes for a good animation.