Activating UI panel on GameObject Click/Destroy

I'm attempting to activate the animation of an informational image (part of a canvas/panel) upon the click of an object (that's also being destroyed because it's being collected).

I gave this a shot:

    public GameObject panelUI;
     public Animation panelAnim;
 
     private void Start()
     {
         if ((panelUI != null) && (panelUI.GetComponent<Animation>() != null))
         {
             panelAnim = panelUI.GetComponent<Animation>();
         }
     }
 
     void Update()
     {
         if ((Input.GetMouseButtonDown(0)) && (panelUI != null))
 
             panelAnim.Play();
 
     }
 

It's not letting me drag the animation or panel into the script. I'm obviously missing a lot here...Ultimately, this particular panel would only pop up(via the created animation) once the object is clicked. The object is already being destroyed upon click, so this panel animation is meant to follow.