If your only perception of animals comes from Hollywood, Grant Kemmerer hopes you are in the audience Tuesday, July 9, when his Wild World of Animals pulls into Stamford's Palace Theatre.

"It's often two extremes," he said of the way animals are depicted on film and the small screen. "They are either a villain who wants to eat you or a Disney character who wants to run up and give you a hug."

In reality, he said, they simply live their lives with the motivations, survival instincts, needs and behaviors they have developed over their evolutionary history.

It is that knowledge that he is hoping to convey to the young (and older) people who come to his shows, in order to dispel myths and misconceptions that have built up around some of these animals.

"At the end of the day, we are not trying to tell people to give a snake a big hug," he said. Rather, he works to show the connections between every creature in the natural world, and the important roles they perform.

"One of the main themes of the show is the importance of all animals," Kemmerer said.

During the hourlong show, get ready to see more than a dozen reptiles, birds and mammals from among the 150 animals he cares for at his facility in southwestern Pennsylvania.

There are big cats, primates, venomous and non-venomous snacks, reptiles, wolves, birds of prey, parrots, small mammals and amphibians.

Kemmerer said the Stamford audience will likely get a chance to see several birds of prey, a diverse collection of mammals, some reptiles, as well as such bigger animals as a young bear or leopard.

The animals featured depend on the trainer leading the show and the animals with whom he or she has worked.

Perhaps the colorful reticulated python will be brought out, or a blue-and-gold macaw. Audiences may get to see an American alligator, a spot nose guenon (monkey), the European eagle owl, the African emperor scorpion, European legless lizard or the marine toad.

Kemmerer, who has worked with animals for close to 30 years, said in addition to schools, theaters, fairs, festivals and theme and amusement parks, his animals have appeared on such television shows as "Late Show with David Letterman," "Today," "Live with Kelly," "Fox and Friends" and "Maury."

Kemmerer said the work is rewarding, and the audience members who come up at the end of the shows to say how much they enjoyed it never gets boring.

"It means you touched somebody," he said. "We might be doing a show for a school in the middle of nowhere, and this is (the students') only interaction and exposure to these animals."

Part of the show is a cautionary tale, too, he said, which is to impart the respect one must give a wild animal. Just by acting naturally, these creatures can be potentially dangerous to humans.

"These are not pets," he said.

christina.hennessy@scni.com; Twitter: xtinahennessy

Palace Theatre, 61 Atlantic St., Stamford. Tuesday, July 9, 10:30 a.m. $10. (For ages 5 and older.) 203-325-4466, http://www.scalive.org.