Trigger animator in script (Unity 5/ C#)

I wish to trigger an animator/animation clip I have created upon clicking of a UI 3D text object. So far my attempts, both my own and from video tutorials, have resulted in NullReferenceExceptions, which I cannot fathom due to the requested animator file existing within my assets directory.

I have some pictures to help elucidate my problems:

• Main Camera: http://broster.s-ul.eu/jklenVuT

• The UI Text: http://broster.s-ul.eu/jnUYi7kc

• The Animator/Animation: http://broster.s-ul.eu/VLX10B0w

• The Script: http://broster.s-ul.eu/5o7fkmUp

• And the Error: http://broster.s-ul.eu/Ak7jwYgO

Any assistance on the matter is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and effort.

EDIT #1:

So I have been continuing to attempt and solve this issue, and following carious tutorials and other unity ans questions, I've come up with this. The animation still does not play, but there are no more errors appearing in the console, thankfully.

To summarize, my animator controller now has one more state, _idle, which does nothing except transition to the actual _slide animation once a trigger is set, which occurs in my script 2.0.

Here are some more pictures:

• Animator Updated: http://broster.s-ul.eu/Costvm92

• Script 2.0: http://broster.s-ul.eu/fIMQPnnq (Attached to 3D text object)

Hopefully I am on the right track(?), I feel as if I've been on the verge of success for quite some time only to dash my hopes repeatedly. If there is anything else you'd like to see, just let me know. Once again, thank you for your time and effort.

EDIT #2 (RESOLVED):

I found my problem, and as expected, it was a two click solution. Make sure to have the Culling Mode in the Animator Controller set to Cull Update Transforms as seen here: http://broster.s-ul.eu/3FEciWZ0

Thank you all for your time and help.