> Is it possible to get blender to find the missing blender files like
> it finds missing image files so that i can preserve the previously
> made animation?

Yes, totally. Go to "*File > External Data > Find missing files*".
You can navigate to specific folders if you know where you put your files. as blender searches sub-directories you can even say: "Hey blender, my file is somewhere in here, just look for yourself" on your documents folder.


> On a side note is there a way to also view a list of all the missing
> files?

Yes. There is.
"*File > External Data > Report missing files*" prints all missing files to the console (in the default layout you can all down the menu on the top to see the console's content.)

[![enter image description here][1]][1]


  [1]: https://i.sstatic.net/KtciO.png