Now this is what I call an unexpected bonanza.

Thanks to WALL-E, the endearing little robot that could, the political name game may have gotten a little bit easier for Armando Walle, the state representative candidate in District 140.

For much of his life, Walle has patiently offered the correct spelling of his family name -- pronounced Wally -- and explained the backstory on how he got his nontraditional, yet still very Hispanic surname.

"When I would get nametags, they would always misspell my name," said the 30-year-old North Houston Democrat, whose name was passed down from his Mexican-born father.

Before Disney came out with its computer-generated mass of metal, Walle used to hold up Mexican president Vincente Fox as an example.

"I'd tell people, 'He doesn't have a traditional Mexican name.' "

"Now," he added, "all I have to say is, 'It's like the movie.' "

[...]

After the March 3 primary, in which Walle defeated incumbent state Rep. Kevin Bailey, a huge billboard boasting WALL-E the movie went up on U.S. 59 north, near the real-life Walle's home.

Now, he said, people recognize the name all the time.

"Lately," he said, "it's been kinda crazy."