with(plots):
pic := n ->
 [plot3d(x^2-y^2,x=-5..5,y=-5..5,orientation=[5*n/4,n],
  grid=[20,20], style=patchcontour)]:
display(seq(pic(n),n=0..60),insequence=true);

1. The familiar surface is graphed with contours, while the viewpoint is varied from directly above on the z-axis to a location in the first octant.  The effect is that of a 2-dimensional contour map changing into a surface in 3-space.
2. In order to make the animation smooth, we needed to use a large number (61) of frames, thereby making the file size fairly large.
3. If this animation will be viewed by a fairly fast computer, you will need to use an animation editor to slow down the resulting GIF file.  The image above has been edited so that each frame is displayed for 0.1 seconds.  The first frame and the last frame are displayed for longer times, so that the viewer has time to understand what is happening.