Derek Bonikowski is a Retro Studios employee, still working there as of Donkey Kong Country Returns. As Senior Animator, he worked on all three games in the Prime Series. Bonikowski created many of the cinematic and in-game animations in the series, and handled the implementation and research of key features in the games such as Grapple Beam and Morph Ball animations. He also trained new employees on internal tools and scripting at the company.