Dont forget that your droid already has an SMS and Email notification built in. The little light at the top right corner blinks green for an email notification and Blue for an SMS notification
Animated widgets are still in the early phases and so far the only downloadable ones are just demos to kinda let you see how they will look. Do a search for "animated widget" in the marketplace and you'll find at least one example.
Edit: I saw 2 with that search, an animated horse widget just as an example, and an actual flip clock in early beta stages. Both are made by the same guy that makes Home++