In 1931, he recorded his most famous song, "Minnie the Moocher". That song and "St. James Infirmary Blues" appeared in Betty Boop animated shorts, Minnie the Moocher and Snow White (1933), respectively. For his part, Cab took advantage of this and timed his concerts in certain communities with the release of the films in order to make the most of the attention.
In 1980, he gained renewed interest when he appeared as a supporting character in the film, The Blues Brothers where he played Minnie The Moocher to buy time for the Brothers to make it to their own concert.