Fred Cline attended Monterey Bay Academy, a private preparatory boarding high school on the California coast. He attended Pacific Union College and California Institute of the Arts where he received a degree in film produciton from the school of film/video. He studied acting and directing at Film Industry Workshops, Inc. in Studio City, California. Fred Cline spent the first five years of his career at Walt Disney Feature Animation. His debut as art director was the animated feature film "Rover Dangerfield" from Warner Bros./Hyperion.