We present a new approach to an interactive design and analysis environment for visual languages. The main components, i.e., editor, animator, and interpreter, are introduced. Their interactions are being investigated emphasizing the interpreter–animator interaction and defining an interface supporting different levels of automation. The interpreter performs the executions on a logical level and triggers the animator. The interactive animation provides a very high degree in liveness since it is based on the tight integration of the animator and editor. The proposed architecture permits the distributed implementation of a system for real–time animation. Our concepts are validated by the implementation of a debugging environment for the complete visual programming language Pictorial Janus.