Adults and children alike are beginning to see cartoons as more than childish obsessions. Cartoons — and animation — have become just as much of an adult thing as a kid thing.

Though Disney once defined the animation market, other films have challenged its dominance. From Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios came PG-rated “Ice Age,” which ended up being one of the highest grossing films of 2002.

More noticeably, DreamWorks SKG and Pacific Data Images studios brought us the green ogre, “Shrek.” Its sequel, “Shrek 2,” came out earlier this year and became the highest-grossing film of the summer season.

It’s not only movies that have grown up, however. Nostalgic television shows and merchandise of beloved cartoons of the ’80s and ’90s have followed a generation whose Saturdays were defined by “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

Nostalgic love and re-emergence of shows like “Transformers” and “GI Joe” have turned into a trend once again. After a decadelong slumber, television and comic books featuring these characters are back in high fashion as emblems and logos that litter backpacks and T-shirts of the 20-something set. The love has even bled into generations who never knew about the show’s first existence — children are picking up Transformers and GI Joes just like the generation before them did.

Rob Josephson, co-owner of Mayhem Comics, 2532 Lincoln Way, says TV shows of yore are part of the recycling of trends.

“The ’80s are back,” he says. “The audience has changed. Every 20 or 30 years, something comes back and becomes a part of pop culture again.”

Josephson’s store has Thunder Cat, GI Joe, Transformers and Gatchaman comic books alongside the classic comics, such as Spider-Man and Fantastic Four. Most people who were preteens in the ’80s remember the Saturday morning cartoons as a staple of their childhood memories.

“It was a time of innocence. It’s familiar to them,” Josephson says. “This is a time of uncertainty for a lot of people. They want to revert to that innocence again.”

One of the landmark shows of the ’90s was “Batman: The Animated Series.” The show came out after the first two Batman films and was heavily influenced by the dark style he created for the Batman world.

“The creators were faithful to the source material,” Josephson says. “Sixty years of popularity was translated to animation. They made the show mature, and the animation was damn good.”

In Cartoon Network’s infancy, “Batman: The Animated Series” became a staple of the network. Toonami, the precursor to Adult Swim — the block of shows for adult audiences — welcomed the show with open arms.

Adult Swim has soared in ratings since its inception with its mix of anime and original shows like “Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law” and “Sealab 2021,” both of which are filled with innuendo and dark humor.

“Letterman and Leno have pretty tame humor targeted for middle-aged people,” says Matt Newcomb, graduate student in electrical and computer engineering. “Adult Swim is edgier and is a lot crazier than even Conan [O’Brien].”