I was thinking about what you said about not making him so stiff (Michael) and watched the video you posted of him. Try this for his new knife throw animation. The sprites on top are two sprites you could use for the bonus stage:
Also, edited his win pose. All I did was change the first and last sprites, but it looks 10 times better:
Also, edited his win pose. All I did was change the first and last sprites, but it looks 10 times better: