Although a bestseller in the series, I wouldn't base the idea of Zelda off of Windwaker, as it's the only Zelda of it's cartoonish kind. If you really want to see what Zelda is about, try playing some of the ones it is well known for, like A Link to the Past, or Ocarina of Time, and the newer title Twilight Princess has been selected as the game of the year by Nintendo, and they claim it's quickly becoming as popular as Ocarina of Time.
Fans say Twilight Princess has brought the Zelda series into a more teenage to adult oriented audience, whereas before it was targeted towards all ages. I will say that Twilight Princess had a new dark theme that felt unique and exciting. Not to mention there is a lot of game, as it takes a good few hours to complete, something that seems less common with newer games, as they seem to be more and more rushed. (God of War for the PSP is an example of that, as it takes less than 5 hours to complete...)
In fact I recall RPGs for the SNES that take much longer to complete than some of this new age stuff. Chrono Trigger took a LONG time to finish, and after there were 13 different endings to get, not to mention one of the most memorable final boss.