diff --git a/Attorney_Online.pro b/Attorney_Online.pro
index 2a5c1e1..abca0fb 100644
--- a/Attorney_Online.pro
+++ b/Attorney_Online.pro
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ QMAKE_LFLAGS += -Wl,-rpath,"'\$$ORIGIN/lib'"
 # Uncomment for verbose network logging
 # DEFINES += DEBUG_NETWORK
 
+# Uncomment for verbose animation logging
+# DEFINES += DEBUG_MOVIE
+
 # Uncomment for building with debug symbols
 # CONFIG += debug
 
diff --git a/include/aolayer.h b/include/aolayer.h
index 7a8e2fd..ffbd6da 100644
--- a/include/aolayer.h
+++ b/include/aolayer.h
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include <QLabel>
 #include <QTimer>
 #include <QBitmap>
+#include <QtConcurrent/QtConcurrentRun>
 
 class AOApplication;
 class VPath;
@@ -139,6 +140,12 @@ protected:
   // Center the QLabel in the viewport based on the dimensions of f_pixmap
   void center_pixmap(QPixmap f_pixmap);
 
+  // Populates the frame and delay vectors with the next frame's data.
+  void load_next_frame();
+
+  // used in load_next_frame
+  QFuture<void> future;
+
 signals:
   void done();
 
diff --git a/src/aolayer.cpp b/src/aolayer.cpp
index 3791d66..9952494 100644
--- a/src/aolayer.cpp
+++ b/src/aolayer.cpp
@@ -320,10 +320,7 @@ void AOLayer::start_playback(QString p_image)
     for (int i = frame; i--;) {
       if (i <= -1)
         break;
-      QPixmap l_pixmap = this->get_pixmap(m_reader.read());
-      int l_delay = m_reader.nextImageDelay();
-      movie_frames.append(l_pixmap);
-      movie_delays.append(l_delay);
+      load_next_frame();
     }
   }
   last_path = p_image;
@@ -344,7 +341,7 @@ void AOLayer::start_playback(QString p_image)
   if (duration > 0 && cull_image == true)
     shfx_timer->start(duration);
 #ifdef DEBUG_MOVIE
-  qDebug() << max_frames << "Setting image to " << image_path
+  qDebug() << max_frames << "Setting image to " << p_image
            << "Time taken to process image:" << actual_time.elapsed();
 
   actual_time.restart();
@@ -532,7 +529,11 @@ void CharLayer::movie_ticker()
 void AOLayer::movie_ticker()
 {
   ++frame;
-  if (frame >= max_frames) {
+  if (frame >= movie_frames.size() && frame < max_frames) { // need to load the image
+      future.waitForFinished(); // Do Not want this to be running twice
+      future = QtConcurrent::run(this, &AOLayer::load_next_frame);
+  }
+  else if (frame >= max_frames) {
     if (play_once) {
       if (cull_image)
         this->stop();
@@ -544,19 +545,21 @@ void AOLayer::movie_ticker()
     else
       frame = 0;
   }
-  //  qint64 difference = elapsed - movie_delays[frame];
-  if (frame >= movie_frames.size()) {
-    movie_frames.append(this->get_pixmap(m_reader.read()));
-    movie_delays.append(m_reader.nextImageDelay());
-  }
-
+  future.waitForFinished(); // don't set the frame before we definitely have it in memory
 #ifdef DEBUG_MOVIE
   qDebug() << frame << movie_delays[frame]
            << "actual time taken from last frame:" << actual_time.restart();
 #endif
-
   this->set_frame(movie_frames[frame]);
   ticker->setInterval(this->get_frame_delay(movie_delays[frame]));
+  if (frame + 1 >= movie_frames.size() && frame + 1 < max_frames) { // load the next frame before we tick again
+      future = QtConcurrent::run(this, &AOLayer::load_next_frame);
+  }
+}
+
+void AOLayer::load_next_frame() {
+    movie_frames.append(this->get_pixmap(m_reader.read()));
+    movie_delays.append(m_reader.nextImageDelay());
 }
 
 void CharLayer::preanim_done()