Under the Rainbow (2013) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

The entire hotel intrigue is revealed as a dream when Rollo Sweet awakens back in Kansas after falling from the shelter roof. The dream was woven from the lives and fantasies of the shelter's residents, with the dream characters representing real people from the shelter. This twist explains the fantastical nature of the events and the improbable convergence of spies, royalty, and Munchkin performers in one hotel.

Foreshadowing: Rollo's fall from the roof at the beginning sets up the dream state that follows.

• dream sequence
• Rollo Sweet
• Kansas shelter
• plot twist
• reveal

The map was a Nazi military map that had been hidden inside a locket attached to the Duchess's dog collar. Kriegling, the Nazi secret agent, believed the map was crucial to his mission and demanded it from Annie, threatening the Duchess. Thorpe confirmed the map's existence, leading to the high-stakes chase across the hotel and studio lot.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Nazi military maps had slipped into Annie’s copy of the Wizard of Oz screenplay, hinting at the espionage element.

• Nazi map
• locket
• dog collar
• Kriegling
• espionage

The Munchkins become unwitting players in the espionage intrigue through mistaken identity. Kriegling expects his Tokyo contact to arrive among the studio guests, while Nakomuri, knowing only that his Nazi contact is a little person, assumes the hidden man must be one of the Munchkins. This mutual misidentification pulls the Munchkin performers into the dangerous web of spy games.

Foreshadowing: The presence of 150 little people cast as Munchkins creates the opportunity for Nakomuri’s mistaken assumption.

• Munchkins
• mistaken identity
• espionage
• Wizard of Oz
• Kriegling
• Nakomuri

Nakomuri and the assassin both die in a dramatic crossfire inside the hotel room. When Nakomuri tries to use his camera as a weapon against the assassin, a shot rings out from the camera's lens, killing both men simultaneously. This violent confrontation ends the immediate threat to the Duke and Duchess but leaves the room in stunned silence.

Foreshadowing: The assassin had already murdered Akido, one of the Japanese tourists, earlier in the night, establishing the deadly stakes.

• Nakomuri
• assassin
• crossfire
• death
• hotel room

Kriegling chases the dog because he believes the map is hidden in a locket on the dog's collar. After confronting Annie and Thorpe in the hotel room, he follows the Duchess's dog as it dashes toward safety, dragging him into a pursuit that spills from the hotel onto the MGM studio lot, disrupting the filming of Gone with the Wind.

Foreshadowing: Thorpe reveals the map's location in the locket just before the chase begins.

• Kriegling
• dog chase
• studio lot
• Gone with the Wind
• locket

The crash occurs when Kriegling grabs the locket containing the map and attempts to escape in a vintage bus, while Rollo Sweet pursues him in a horse-drawn carriage across the studio lot. The high-speed pursuit through the crowded studio results in a dramatic collision that ends the chase and leaves both the dreamers and schemers bound by the consequences.

Foreshadowing: The chase weaves through hotel corridors and studio sets, building momentum toward the inevitable crash.

• crash
• bus
• carriage
• Kriegling
• pursuit
• studio lot

The bus full of little people that arrives at the Kansas shelter at the end signals a new chapter in Rollo Sweet's life. After his dream of Hollywood adventure, the arrival of the bus confirms he is now on his way to Hollywood, transforming his dream into reality. The moment represents hope and the fulfillment of his aspiration to leave his homeless shelter life for the silver screen.

Foreshadowing: Rollo's dream included Munchkin performers, connecting his fantasy to this real-life opportunity.

• bus
• little people
• Hollywood
• Rollo Sweet
• ending
• hope

Annie Clark is an MGM employee working at the hotel near the studio. She serves as a central figure in the espionage plot, with Kriegling and Nakomuri closing in on her, Thorpe, and the Duke and Duchess in a dangerous hotel room confrontation. Nazi military maps are slipped into her copy of the Wizard of Oz screenplay, making her an unwitting carrier of secret documents.

Foreshadowing: Annie's daily work at MGM places her at the center of the Hollywood dream within the dream.

• Annie Clark
• MGM
• hotel
• espionage
• Wizard of Oz screenplay

Rollo climbs to the roof of the Kansas homeless shelter to fix the antenna while listening to a radio broadcast from President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The ladder wobbles during his attempt, causing him to slip and plummet toward an uncertain fate. This accident serves as the inciting incident that triggers his dream of Hollywood adventure.

Foreshadowing: The opening scene establishes Rollo's practical nature alongside his dreams of Hollywood fame.

• Rollo
• shelter
• roof
• antenna
• fall
• Kansas

When Rollo awakens in Kansas, the dream characters are revealed as people from the shelter who never left their ground-level lives. This connection suggests the dream was a nocturnal tapestry woven from Rollo's observations and fantasies about the people around him, transforming mundane reality into the elaborate Hollywood adventure.

Foreshadowing: The dream's elaborate characters hint at Rollo's rich imagination applied to everyday shelter residents.

• dream characters
• shelter residents
• reality
• transformation
• Rollo