  We describe calculations of $c \bar c$ production to next-to-next-to-leading
order (NNLO) and next-to-next-to-leading logarithm (NNLL) near threshold in
$pp$ and $\pi^- p$ interactions. We study the relevance of these calculations
for existing $c \bar c$ total cross section data by examining their sensitivity
to partonic threshold kinematics, their convergence properties and scale
dependence.
