The Smurfs 2 Teaser PosterLast year, The Smurfs took in more than half a billion dollars across the globe for Sony, making it one of the biggest surprise successes of the year. And naturally, the studio decided to take the franchise further, and soon announced that the sequel, The Smurfs 2, would be with us in 2013.

We got our first look at a new duo of characters back in September, and now Sony Pictures Hong Kong’s Facebook have debuted a short but sweet teaser trailer, gearing us up for what’s to come next July.

“In this sequel to the hybrid live action/animated family blockbuster comedy The Smurfs, the evil wizard Gargamel creates a couple of mischievous Smurf-like creatures called the Naughties that he hopes will let him harness the all-powerful, magical Smurf-essence. But when he discovers that only a real Smurf can give him what he wants — and only a secret spell that Smurfette knows can turn the Naughties into real Smurfs — Gargamel kidnaps Smurfette and brings her to Paris, where he has been winning the adoration of millions as the world’s greatest sorcerer. It’s up to Papa, Clumsy, Grouchy, and Vanity to return to our world, reunite with their human friends Patrick and Grace Winslow, and rescue her! Will Smurfette, who has always felt different from the other Smurfs, find a new connection with the Naughties Vexy and Hackus – or will the Smurfs convince her that their love for her is True Blue?”

Much of the original cast is returning for the live-action/CGI film, with Hank Azaria, Neil Patrick Harris, Jamya Mays, Sofía Vergara, and Brendan Gleeson part of the live-action cast, and Jonathan Winters, Katy Perry, Fred Armisen, Alan Cumming, Anton Yelchin, Christina Ricci, and JB Smoove lending their voices to the film.

Raja Gosnell is back in the director’s chair, with a script Karey Kirkpatrick, David Rohn, Jay Schreick, J. David Stern, and David N. Weiss.

The Smurfs 2 will be hitting theatres on 31st July, 2013, coming to us in the UK and US in the height of the summer blockbusters, with Sony clearly having a lot of faith in the film following the success of the original. Here’s the teaser trailer to get things started.

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