When in open GL view I can animate and even play back my animation to test it. However when I switch to render view, nothing shows up. It is just the white background whether it sits there or when I hit play it stays as the white background.
The render view is meant to check only the current frame. If you want to play a rendered clip you should export a MOV or a WMV or you can use the Render and Play button on the right next to the regular Play button.