Yes but it kinda makes sense a little bit. I mean he has always lived in the shadows. Been ignored by two of his brothers for three years, and I don't know how old he is exactly but I think that would mean he has spent either three years of his puberty or childhood being ignored like that. That would leave him with some scars. If you think about it he couldn't have come out of this as the super nice person he pretended to be. He would feel like it's his right to stand in the spotlight. And perhaps he did care about Anna at first, they had stuff in comon. He just wasn't in love with her so it wasn't an option for him to be with her anymore once love was all that could save her.

But you are right. Redemption is something disney doesn't often show. Not with main villains anyway. There were minions in the past who turned their lives around though. Iago, Anastasia and Nathaniel come to mind.

Of course everyone loves a good disney vilain. And I think they help kids understand that their are things in this world (Greed, envy, hunger for power, narsism ect) that can turn people rot to the core. I remember that as a kid I believed that everyone was good in essence, you just had to find that esence and bring it out. Even when I watched disney movies, I wondered if the vilain really couldn't be reasoned with. When the movie came to it's clymax thought I usually found myself thinking "It's done. They have crossed the line of no return". But I still believed that if someone had just talked with them, shown understanding and support, that those vilains would understand their mistakes and become good. Part of me still believes this to be true. I know Naive right?

And about the choice... She and Christof aren't maried or even engaged at the end of the movie. Anna can take her time to see if her relation with Christof is what she wants from life or if there is someone else out there. And Hans helps girls understand early that not all guys who act nice are really nice. An important lesson. If you grow up thinking that life excist out of obvious heros and even more obvious vilains you are not safe in the real world.