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I don't think that by the end of the movie, she totally threw over her money and royalty. Agreed, she gave up her social whirl. But a title stays with you for life so she's still got that. She has her Grandmother, who isn't exactly going to let her last surviving relative starve in the poorhouse. And at the end of the picture, they were whirling around on a yacht or ocean liner, which is not transport for poor people.
Rasputin-wise, yes he adds drama. But isn't that what a villain does in general? Another villain would have also done the trick. He doesn't make sense continuity wise either. Grandma's a Romanov too and probably easier to knock off, so why was he so dead set on Anastasia? Why did he hate the Romanovs? One of the things I like about Disney is that they always provide their villains with motivations, so they are more real and provide a contrast to the motivations of the heroes. E.G Snow White's stepmother - jealousy, Ursula - ambition. One of the reasons why I love B & B is that although Gaston was a caricture, we could understand him - his ego that blinded him to consequences, his envy and selfishness, etc. We could understand why he thought the way he did. Rasputin's just - "I'm evil so I'll do evil things." These are the problems MINUS history.
You haven't answered my suggestions to the alternates for avoiding the problems of this film.
As for themes, I don't think they were quite pulled off due to these flaws, but that's subjective. But these ARE flaws and regardless of themes, flaws weaken a movie.
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