My minecraft refuses to continue past the white "Minecraft" loading screen

When you start up Minecraft, it usually shows you a loading screen before it throws you into the main menu for Minecraft. Alas, my game gets stuck in this first loading screen, meaning I cannot even reach the main menu. It doesn't freeze, because the pins above the loading pins are still animated, yet the loading itself gets stuck and won't continue. I had my PC on all night but it made no difference. It simply refuses to load.