Not quite as good as 'Butterscotch and Soda' and 'Song of the Birds' before it, but to me 'Tarts and Flowers' is in the better half of the generally under-appreciated Little Audrey series.
The story is slight but has the right amount of confectionery sweetness without feeling too sugary or making one sick. This is the same for Little Audrey herself, an adorable and charming character that falls on the right side of sweet thankfully. While it doesn't immediately get to the action and the second half is somewhat better than the first, with a real urgency, wildly imaginative puns and mouth-watering visuals (plus the Devil Food Cake character, a great antagonist), 'Tarts and Flowers' was a cartoon I hardly found dull.
On top of that, the animation is rich and colourful, with very meticulous and beautifully drawn backgrounds and well-rendered character designs that don't look too stiff. Winston Sharples provides yet another outstanding music score, even in mediocre or worse cartoons Sharples' music was never among the flaws (if anything always one of the strengths or the best asset).
Love the lusciousness of the orchestration here and how characterful and whimsical the music was without going overboard in either, even better was how well it fitted in the cartoon and how it merged with the action. The main song is very infectious too.
Plenty of amusement here, as well as great visual imagination and a great deal of cuteness (one of the cuter cartoons with Little Audrey) without being overly so. Children and adults alike are likely to be having their mouths watering and craving for sweet foods, and any messaging is not handled in a heavy-handed way. The voice acting is good.
All in all, a confectionery delight and one of the best Little Audrey cartoons back when Famous Studios' cartoons were very well made and good to great, before suffering from tight deadlines and lower budgets in the mid-late-50s. 9/10 Bethany Cox