diff --git a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/animated/ColorAnimatedNode.java b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/animated/ColorAnimatedNode.java
index 68949f82f77..2046458470c 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/animated/ColorAnimatedNode.java
+++ b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/animated/ColorAnimatedNode.java
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@
 
 package com.facebook.react.animated;
 
+import android.content.Context;
 import android.graphics.Color;
+import android.view.View;
 import com.facebook.react.bridge.ColorPropConverter;
 import com.facebook.react.bridge.ReactApplicationContext;
 import com.facebook.react.bridge.ReadableMap;
@@ -22,7 +24,8 @@ import com.facebook.react.views.view.ColorUtil;
   private final int mGNodeId;
   private final int mBNodeId;
   private final int mANodeId;
-  private int mColor;
+  private final ReadableMap mNativeColor;
+  private boolean mNativeColorApplied;
 
   public ColorAnimatedNode(
       ReadableMap config,
@@ -34,15 +37,13 @@ import com.facebook.react.views.view.ColorUtil;
     mGNodeId = config.getInt("g");
     mBNodeId = config.getInt("b");
     mANodeId = config.getInt("a");
-    setNativeColor(config.getMap("nativeColor"));
+    mNativeColor = config.getMap("nativeColor");
+    tryApplyNativeColor();
   }
 
   public int getColor() {
-    return mColor;
-  }
+    tryApplyNativeColor();
 
-  @Override
-  public void update() {
     ValueAnimatedNode rNode = (ValueAnimatedNode) mNativeAnimatedNodesManager.getNodeById(mRNodeId);
     ValueAnimatedNode gNode = (ValueAnimatedNode) mNativeAnimatedNodesManager.getNodeById(mGNodeId);
     ValueAnimatedNode bNode = (ValueAnimatedNode) mNativeAnimatedNodesManager.getNodeById(mBNodeId);
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ import com.facebook.react.views.view.ColorUtil;
     double b = bNode.getValue();
     double a = aNode.getValue();
 
-    mColor = ColorUtil.normalize(r, g, b, a);
+    return ColorUtil.normalize(r, g, b, a);
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -70,13 +71,17 @@ import com.facebook.react.views.view.ColorUtil;
         + mANodeId;
   }
 
-  private void setNativeColor(ReadableMap nativeColor) {
-    if (nativeColor == null) {
+  private void tryApplyNativeColor() {
+    if (mNativeColor == null || mNativeColorApplied) {
       return;
     }
 
-    int color =
-        ColorPropConverter.getColor(nativeColor, mReactApplicationContext.getCurrentActivity());
+    Context context = getContext();
+    if (context == null) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    int color = ColorPropConverter.getColor(mNativeColor, context);
 
     ValueAnimatedNode rNode = (ValueAnimatedNode) mNativeAnimatedNodesManager.getNodeById(mRNodeId);
     ValueAnimatedNode gNode = (ValueAnimatedNode) mNativeAnimatedNodesManager.getNodeById(mGNodeId);
@@ -88,6 +93,33 @@ import com.facebook.react.views.view.ColorUtil;
     bNode.mValue = Color.blue(color);
     aNode.mValue = Color.alpha(color) / 255.0;
 
-    update();
+    mNativeColorApplied = true;
+  }
+
+  private Context getContext() {
+    Context context = mReactApplicationContext.getCurrentActivity();
+    if (context != null) {
+      return context;
+    }
+
+    // There are cases where the activity may not exist (such as for VRShell panel apps). In this
+    // case we will search for a view associated with a PropsAnimatedNode to get the context.
+    return getContextHelper(this);
+  }
+
+  private static Context getContextHelper(AnimatedNode node) {
+    // Search children depth-first until we get to a PropsAnimatedNode, from which we can
+    // get the view and its context
+    if (node.mChildren != null) {
+      for (AnimatedNode child : node.mChildren) {
+        if (child instanceof PropsAnimatedNode) {
+          View view = ((PropsAnimatedNode) child).getConnectedView();
+          return view != null ? view.getContext() : null;
+        } else {
+          return getContextHelper(child);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    return null;
   }
 }
diff --git a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/animated/PropsAnimatedNode.java b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/animated/PropsAnimatedNode.java
index 759675e661a..aacf6bf1c3f 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/animated/PropsAnimatedNode.java
+++ b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/animated/PropsAnimatedNode.java
@@ -7,12 +7,14 @@
 
 package com.facebook.react.animated;
 
+import android.view.View;
 import androidx.annotation.Nullable;
 import com.facebook.react.bridge.JSApplicationIllegalArgumentException;
 import com.facebook.react.bridge.JavaOnlyMap;
 import com.facebook.react.bridge.ReadableMap;
 import com.facebook.react.bridge.ReadableMapKeySetIterator;
 import com.facebook.react.bridge.UIManager;
+import com.facebook.react.uimanager.IllegalViewOperationException;
 import com.facebook.react.uimanager.common.UIManagerType;
 import com.facebook.react.uimanager.common.ViewUtil;
 import java.util.HashMap;
@@ -116,6 +118,16 @@ import java.util.Map;
     mUIManager.synchronouslyUpdateViewOnUIThread(mConnectedViewTag, mPropMap);
   }
 
+  public View getConnectedView() {
+    try {
+      return mUIManager.resolveView(mConnectedViewTag);
+    } catch (IllegalViewOperationException ex) {
+      // resolveView throws an {@link IllegalViewOperationException} when the view doesn't exist
+      // (this can happen if the surface is being deallocated).
+      return null;
+    }
+  }
+
   public String prettyPrint() {
     return "PropsAnimatedNode["
         + mTag