[jaywalk]

It appears to be deliberate, since these are just small static files and the rest of the site is still fast. I find it incredibly annoying.

[krapp]

It makes the experience more authentic.

[jaywalk]

I understand. I just don't like it.

[PhasmaFelis]

It may also be that even modern browsers have some trouble loading and rendering 940 animated gifs in parallel, even very small ones. That's probably not a common use case.