YES, i can confirm than those are pics, that's pretty much lame color reduction of a picture. Pretty simple in some programs as photoshop...
But if you want to animate this kind of stuff by your own i have few apps to recomendations.
IN PC
* http://www.superfundungeonrun.com/easytoon - EasyToon (WIN) # Mainly Animation in B&W.
If you own a DSi
* http://flipnote.hatena.com/ - Flipnote Studio (DSiWare) # Free
You can export to ANIMATED GIF from there. And you can use from 2 to 3 colors, which is 1 bit/1.5 bits? XDDD
If you own a DS or DSLite
* http://deku.rydia.net/ - Animanatee (NDS) #Homebrew
EXTRA TOOLS
* http://www.whitsoftdev.com/unfreez/ - UnFREEZ (WIN) # Mix into Animated GIF file
Any other tool or app, check this link
http://chipmusic.org/forums/topic/4103/
d-related/